Aussielicious

I’ve been doing a fair bit of photography lately but I have to be honest and say the photos I’ve done for myself, trying out things for possible new series’ just aren’t quite gelling for me. I think I need to figure out what is behind the ideas I’ve had a bit more before they will start to truly come together. I’m not hating the shots I’ve done by any stretch, but I’m not loving them either.

The relative failure, in terms of sales, of the Freedom exhibition has thrown me a little and I don’t want to do another exhibition whenever that happens, that lacks a strong visual theme. I liked all the images in Freedom but I’m the first to admit it wasn’t wildly creative. It was very much what I was feeling and thinking at the time and I guess as a creative person or artist, that’s important.

Back to the drawing board I guess.

There are a bunch of people who are clearly blurring the lines between exhibitionism and nudism and to be honest I’m totally fine with that. There is a time for non sexual nudity but sometimes a bit of showing off or voyeurism is fine too as long as no one is going to be offended. I’m not quite sure where these guys sit on that scale from nudism to exhibitionism. The two men in this video both have vimeo pages here and here. These two obviously enjoy being nude together and being seen nude but there isn’t anything blatantly sexual going on. Perhaps making and posting videos of themselves and each other nude is enough for them. I personally wouldn’t mind seeing these guys walking around nude in town.

They have a few videos where they are both just walking through Thessaloniki in Greece at night. I’m not entirely sure of the legality of being nude in the streets of Greece but no one seems to be upset by the sight of two nude men going for a stroll so I’m figuring whatever laws they have against it aren’t policed too heavily, nor should they be. Keep it up guys.

Naked walk with Michalis Gymnisths in thessaloniki Γυμνός με τον Μιχαλη στην Θεσσαλονικη from John Mask on Vimeo.

When a model that looks like some kind of Norse god starts popping up on Model Mayhem or on Tumblr, I sit up and take notice. Serge is a young Russian man standing at 6′ tall with a 46″ chest apparently. I personally wouldn’t mind wrapping my arms around it just to check, for research purposes of course! Serge was born in a small town in Russia but is now living, working as a model and actor in St Petersburg. What a stunning looking man!

A friend and I were discussing something the other night which when I sit and think about it seems to be a legitimate thing going on. I don’t know if it happens at the other end of the year in the Northern Hemisphere with diffferent seasons, but as Sydney hits Autumn couples everywhere crash and burn all around me.

This Autumn has been no different with a few couples I know all breaking up relatively unexpectedly. You would think that Spring and Summer would be when people get all frisky and want a summer fling and that Autumn/Winter would be the time to settle in with someone special and cuddle on the lounge together.

Apparently not.

It came to my attention today that May is international masturbation month. Really? It’s an official thing now? For me every month is masturbation month and if I limited myself to just one month of the year the other 11 months I would suffer from toxic build up and my vision would improve dramatically. I barely ever have sex with anyone else involved so why not celebrate my relationship with my right hand?

I think a nationally recognised month for masturbation is a great thing. Why not have a jack off party? Put on some porn, invite some friends over and have at it for a while. My first ever wank was with a mate from school. He is totally straight and I thought I was at the time. I’m pretty sure that most guys have had a wank with a mate at some point. Why not? It’s fun and it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t touch. Hell, it doesn’t have to mean anything if you do.

In celebration of May being international masturbation month I’m going to have another wank tonight, just like every night.

Last night I found out that another step in my coming out had been taken. Yes I’m basically out to everyone I know and you would think that I would be present for any coming out style announcements. Apparently not. My sister sent me a text message last night saying that she had to confess that she and my brother-in-law had just outed me to my nephew (10) and my niece (7.5).

A woman famous in the Australian racing industry is named Gai Waterhouse. Gai has been in the news a lot lately including last night and no doubt my nephew made some comment about her name. He’s pretty sharp so he would have picked up on having a name that means something unusual for a name, even if it’s spelt differently.

So my sister and brother-in-law felt that it was time to sit them down and explain why you shouldn’t ever use the word gay in a derogatory way and finally let them know that Uncle B is a big raving homo. Probably not in those words, but it adds a touch of flair to the story don’t you think? I’d always left it up to them to decide what and when to tell them. They are their children after all.

When my sister told me I asked if they were ok with it. Her reply was “Fine and dandy.” My nephew had apparently decided that because my flatmate wears nail polish he must be gay so it was no big surprise that I was. Pretty good logic for a 10 year old with little exposure to the gay community.

Who thought there would be nerve-inducing moments of coming out nearly 15 years after I did it all the first time?

You would have to have been living under a rock to not know that finally, a male athlete has come out who is a professional player in one of the four big sports in the U.S. Jason Collins is a 34 year old basketball player, currently a free agent, but very well regarded with a very successful career so far. Of course there have already been religious wingnuts saying that he’s living a sinful life and that gay lifestyle is the work of the devil, blah blah blah.

Today I had a bit of a mild disagreement with a work colleague about Jason’s coming out. Let me state from the outset that my colleague, for all his faults, is far from homophobic. He was saying it was crap that everyone was focusing on his coming out and being gay and that they should be focusing on his fantastic success in the NBA. Sure, in an ideal world that would be the case. No I hadn’t heard of him before today but that’s not because he was ignored before, it’s because I don’t follow the NBA. One day it won’t be news when someone comes out and they won’t even have to, but to be the first openly gay man actively playing in Basketball, Football, Baseball or Hockey in the U.S. is absolutely huge news. There’s a very real chance that LGBT kids won’t be afraid of joining a sporting team because of the old, outdated, inaccurate cliche that queers don’t play sports.

Jason has shown huge courage in coming out, risking endorsements, possible contracts with teams and even putting his twin brother, also an NBA player at risk of harassment. Congratulations Jason. If you want to read a massive number of very supportive tweets, including one from the First Lady Michelle Obama, click here.

I’ve got my grumpy pants on tonight as you can tell from the previous post. I’ve just had a long day at work and I didn’t make it to circus class because I was stuck in the office. So in an attempt to brighten the mood this is a video of porn star and general HUNG gentleman Rafael Alencar trying on different pairs of swimwear. He’s surprisingly modest given what he does on camera generally, but you see plenty of his mighty meat swinging around while he’s getting in and out of the swimwear. Enjoy.

Choosing the right Swim Suit from Rafael Alencar on Vimeo.

A while ago a reader asked me why I have such a problem with studios like Sean Cody doing bareback porn. After all he said, it’s just like Hollywood and it’s not like it’s real. Um, guess what? It’s NOTHING like Hollywood and the unprotected sex they are having is very real. They are dumping and taking loads in their arses with only luck, trust and regular testing to protect them. How on earth do they know the guy about to cum inside them has been careful when having sex in his private life? They don’t.

The comparison to Hollywood make believe actually stunned me. Hollywood doesn’t throw Tom Cruise in a car, flip and crash it down the street randomly and hope he’s going to be ok. Everything is worked out precisely, where the car will flip, how fast it will be going and how far it will roll. Then, they don’t even put Tom Cruise in it. There are no safety harnesses and computer imaging fakery going on in a bareback porn shoot. Those guys are putting their health at risk for your enjoyment. Sure, it’s really hot to look at but to say it’s not real and that all these guys being pressured into unsafe sex isn’t a big deal is absolute bullshit.

Today I had one of those emails that just hits you in the gut so hard you are left speechless and sad. Lee, a long time reader of this blog and semi regular commenter is one of those people who just seem to be dealt some really tough cards in the game that we call life. He’s been a carer for his disabled brother for years after their parents were killed. He broke his back some time ago and had ongoing medical issues as a result of that. Thankfully he wasn’t in a wheel chair and had full mobility. That was at risk last year as he needed surgery to remove scar tissue and that surgery could have left him paralysed. Luckily, Lee was making a great recovery from that with the aid of his new partner who he adores and who adores him.

Unfortunately, Lee has recently found out that he has advanced cancer and may only have a few months to live. Why do some people just get so much shit in their life when they are such very good people? I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a bit of a miracle recovery for Lee but it seems like the prognosis isn’t good. So the images above are for him. It’s about all I could think of that might brighten his day a little. Lee is a big fan of David Williams after spending some time in Australia and seeing David and his Rugby League Team, the Manly Sea Eagles playing and I believe meeting them as well through a friend.

I know I can’t do anything to help Lee beat his cancer but I can keep him in my thoughts.

When you hear that a porn star is going to be in your apartment being photographed by your flatmate it’s natural that you get a bit excited, after all it’s not every day that someone with a ridiculously good body who you’ve seen having sex is going to be getting that body out in your living room.

Last night Aussie newcomer to the porn scene Rogan Richards was over at my place being photographed for his new website. I’d been introduced to Rogan a couple of years earlier and when he dropped by last week to talk about the shoot I was very surprised that he remembered who I was. Obviously with a porn star there is their day to day real life persona and then there is the character they take on for porn. Rogan’s real life persona is not all that different from the on-screen Rogan, but more down to earth, quite sweet and very easy to chat to. There is still that cheeky smile and cockiness that has made Rogan popular but toned down to a day-to-day level.

There is always a danger when you see porn being made or meet a porn star that the reality will kill the fantasy. Having worked doing photography on a porn shoot several years ago, that is a very real danger, but having Rogan walking around our apartment getting changed and standing there naked completely at ease with his nudity, wasn’t exactly hard to take.

These are a few of the shots that my flatmate and his business partner have done with Rogan in the past for their business Bad Behaviour Boys.

On Sunday night I had a mate over for dinner and we were having a good catch up. This friend is a very VERY practical man. He’s lovely but usually errs on the side of caution and sensibility. Don’t get me wrong, he’s taken some risks in his career but they are very calculated risks.

On Sunday night I told him about an idea that I’d had for quite a large adventure that would mean some big changes. I was expecting him to tell me I was insane, that it was a lovely idea but a bit unrealistic. No. Apparently even one of the most practical and sensible people I know thinks it’s a fantastic idea and that it “needs to happen” in his words.

I’m not going to say what it is, but the idea has been germinating for a while now and won’t go away. So why am I posting a fan-made lyric video to a Kylie song that most of you won’t have heard? Because the song is all about taking risks. The name of the song is Jump and it’s from the line “Run to the future and jump!” Maybe it’s time. There are a million reasons not to do what I’m thinking of doing but none of them are real reasons.

My post this week about the short film on Gingers seemed to strike a chord with some people. It really does seem that gingers/redheads/fire-crotches are experiencing a resurgence in popularity. No doubt it’s being spear-headed by gorgeous men like Seth Fornea. Seth is one of those people that I had seen on blogs and in photos by the talented Rick Day but never knew who it was. My flatmate did some tricky little search using a photo of Seth and voila! We had a name and a blog and countless stalking opportunities. Seth’s blog is a good read as well as being candy of diabetic levels for the eyes.

Gogo dancer by night, chemist for the government by day, party boy on weekends and gardener in his free time. I’m no party boy but the opportunity to see someone like Seth filling out his underwear the way he does and shaking it about on a podium just might entice me out. Seth also shares a lot of totally adorable photos of himself and his just-as-cute boyfriend on his blog. Stinking hot and sweetly in love? Dammit.

I think Seth might be part of a plot to over throw the planet and populate it with sexy gay gingers. I know some friends might like that. Maybe that’s what he’s doing in his chemistry lab for the government?

Dan Savage is known as a global campaigner for LGBT rights and marriage equality. Dan, after a quick search on wikipedia, shares my birthday but he was born 9 years earlier than me. He’s a well known journalist and when he’s in smack-down mode against the wingnut religious bigots telling the world we are tearing at the fabric of society, he puts them in their place articulately and efficiently. Well it turns out that his co-founder of the It Gets Better Project is also his boyfriend, Terry Miller. Terry was snapped in these photos wearing Mr Turk underwear and rocking a ridiculously good body. As much as I respect Dan Savage, it’s pretty clear Mr Miller is bringing the hot to the relationship. If I was taking that to bed every night I’d be campaigning HARD for marriage equality too!

In late August some of my friends and I are going to Burning Man and I can’t wait to go back and experience the madness and wonder that is that festival again. We are driving in RV’s from San Fran and as there is 9 of us going but it looks like we are organising accommodation separately in San Fran. If any of you are from San Francisco or have any good experiences and recommendations on accommodation I’d love to hear them. I did a quick google this afternoon on clothing optional accommodation but didn’t get anything come up. Clothing optional is not important at all as we’ll be most likely out shopping for Burning Man supplies and exploring the city, but I thought it might be nice.

Some of the guys have found a place Inn on Castro which does look lovely but please, feel free to let me know of any suggestions.