Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Last weekend I watched a lovely film Goodby Lenin on DVD. The film is set in the late 80's in East Berlin, and much of the action covers the period just prior to, and just after, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

It took me back to 1988, when I visited Berlin as part of a backpacking trip I did around Europe with my friend Darren. Travelling to Berlin was magical, bizarre and a little scary for this boy from suburban Adelaide. If my geography was better I would have understood that West Berlin was actually an island of 'west' inside East Germany. For some reason I hadn't considered that the train ride would mean travelling through East Germany to get to West Berlin.

It was a surreal experience, gun toting and (to my eyes) mean looking East German guards travelled the length of the train closing all the blinds and barking at the tourists not to take pictures of the East German towns we passed through. Why? Because it looked like time had stood still, and not in a quaint way but in a 'too poor to repair the buildings' sort of way. The street were empty looking and what cars we could see were ancient looking, and notoriously unreliable, Trabants. Not quite the best advertisement for socialism.

Darren of course tried to take a picture and almost gave me a coronary when he was caught and yelled at by a guard. Fortunately I speak German (although not so well anymore) and was able to apologise in my schoolboy-German-with-heavy-Aussie-accent.

We did the tourist things of Berlin; visited the Wall, visited the museum at Checkpoint Charlie, rode the Berlin subway and stared wide-eyed as it travelled without stopping through deserted East Berlin stations where time stood still at the day the Wall went up, and even went into East Berlin for the day. East Berlin was interesting, strange and depressing all at the same time. West Berlin was lively, artistic and exciting.

In little more than a year after our visit the Wall came down. So I'm glad to have had the opportunity, in at least a small way, to have experienced what must be one of the sadder and strangest episodes in modern history.

Finland, May I Have Your Votes Please?

Love shiny pop music with borderline comprehensible lyrics and a regulation key change? Have an attention span that cuts out at the 3 minutes and 30 seconds mark? Ever wondered what a song performed by three drag flight attendants or a bunch of Eastern European cyber-gypsies might sound (and look) like?

Yes folks, we are heading for Eurovision-land once again. If you need to count off the days, the Popjustice Eurovision Blog can hook you up.

Mr Max Jones, I'll see you there!

GRRRR!! Tiny Tiger!

This week's Photo Friday subject is 'Tiny'.

I took this picture of little three month old Aemon about two or three weeks ago. That tiny tiger suit just took all the cute in the world, gathered it in one place and wrapped up tiny little Aemon in it.

My teeth! They ache from all the cuteness!!


Aemon, Tiny Tiger. March, 2005.

This isn't a great picture, blurry and poorly exposed, but I love it. (I was trying to capture the moment while avoiding hitting Aemon's sensitive little eyes with a flash.) The best thing about this pic is the way it captures Aemon's worried little face. Seriously, you have never met a child this pensive. Since the day he was born he's been carrying the weight of the world on his tiny shoulders. That's a lot, even for a tiger.

What Is The Least Likely Phrase In The English Language?

And the winner is...

Fun With Lentils

[Don't get me wrong, I think lentils are a nutritious and sometimes tasty food... but fun? Not so much. Not like those borlotti beans, huh!? Man, now they crack me up.]

Easter: Or Why Expectations Are Bad For You

Two friends of mine live in one of the coolest houses I've ever seen, a large converted ex-Salvation Army church hall. As they were going away for the Easter break and have two cats, some fish, and four yabbies, and have been visited by burgulars at least one too many times, I offered to house sit for them over the four day Easter break.

Here is what I thought would happen when I had the big ole' house to myself:

Sleep late and claw back a bit of sleep debt, as my account's been in the red for ages

No one else around, so I'd do a bit of a mini-retreat and meditate heaps while I had peace and quiet

Have a nice quiet weekend, and save some money

Watch cable tv, which I don't have, and overdose on 'lifestyle' tv and the fashion channel (shut up!)

Of those items, here's what I acheived:

Watch cable (which I don't have) and overdose on 'lifestyle' tv and the fashion channel

Here is what actually happened:

Go to bed late, get woken somewhere around 7 times during the night as cat sits on face, chest, bladder, groin - repeat. Wake at around 6.30am as first plane flies over, LOW. I swear I could here someone ask Would you like the chicken or the beef?

Walk around in sleep deprived haze, drink too much coffee from the sedan sized Italian espresso machine, discover too tired/speedy to meditate... or construct sentences with adverbs

Discover no food in house and most shops shut, spend fortune on pizza delivery etc. Go out to do a few things and catch taxis rather walk miles in sleep deprived haze, likewise spend fortune.

Hey, but at least I now know all there is to know about redesigning my back yard/living room/neighbour's house and which are my favourite designers from Madrid Fashion Week.

Life skills.

Working 9 To 5

Back in December I quit my regular job, when my distaste for it finally overcame my native inertia, and since then I've been doing short-term contract (or 'temping') work. I have done this sort of work on and off, between regular jobs, over the past 10 years and discovered that it's kind of fun. I enjoy the change each assignment brings and the new skills I pick up, and the old skills I get to flex again. A couple of times temp assignments have even led to me getting a regular permanent job.

The only downside is occasional financial insecurity. Lots of short-term assignments can mean that sometimes a week or two can go by between jobs without any work, and most importantly no income. Financial stress is the one sort of stress that I don't deal with all that well.

So my current assignment in accounts at a marine construction company is due to finish on the 1st of April. To complicate matters I'm going away on an 8 day meditation retreat between 16th and 24th April, meaning that I had to try and either swing a two week assignment to fill the gap, or find a long term assignment that wouldn't be bent out of shape by me taking a week's leave just after starting.

Well call it luck, fate or good karma but I received a call from my agency offering me a 1-3 week assignment to start as soon as this one finishes. The client is so desperate for someone who is talented on the bookkeeping software I use (and used to be a trainer for) that they are waiting for me to finish my current assignment. Of course I jumped at the chance, after checking with the Financial Controller that I was still due to finish on the 1st.

Today two of the three Directors of the construction company came in and gave me a glowing review of the job I have done. I mean, glowing. It was almost embarassing. So, despite the fact that the woman whose job I have been doing is returning to work on the 4th (after major surgery) they asked me to stay on for three months. They are even willing to let me go off and do this other assignment I have already agreed to, go on my retreat, and then come back.

The only concern is that they basically laid it all out that I have done a much better job than the woman who normally does it. It worries me that she is going to come back from having a serious illness only to find her 'replacement' still hanging around. I have met her and she is a lovely lady, and she already told me that it has gotten back to her what a wonderful job I have been doing. She was also pretty keen to return to work, and I could sense that she wanted to make sure she would still have a job to come back to. However, I think she has underestimated how much she will be affected by the chemotherapy she starts in a few weeks time, and I think the plan is in part to have me around as a back-up.

I need to work out some of the details with the Financial Controller, who is on leave until the 1st and knows nothing of the three month offer, talk to my agency and think about how to keep the assignment. Without making life any more difficult for this lovely lady, who is already going through a very tough life experience. Interesting times.

We Made Do With Pipe-Cleaners And Egg Cartons When I Was A Kid...

I think this would be so cool! Toy Lab in Cincinnati, USA, allows kids to choose 7 pieces from their collection of clean recycled toy parts, decide how they want them put together, and then a technician helps them assemble the parts into a working toy.

The end results are very eccentric and fabulous, and generally look like a kooky hybrid of Japanese anime characters and the 'Remades' of 'steam-punk' author China Mieville's novels Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council. (Wonderful books in my opinion.)

But I don't see coloured cellophane, cardboard toilet rolls or dried macaroni anywhere...

Weather Isn't Beautiful, Wish You Were Here.

If you forgot that Das Internetz is a strange and fantastical place, here's a reminder in the shape of a website dedicated to Vintage Icelandic Postcards.

You're welcome.

(Oh, and I defy anyone to tell me what this actually is a picture of...)

Itchy Palms

Autumn is a drawing in... the nights are getting colder... tv is watchable again after the Summer rating hiatus...

All of which means more nights in front of the tv curled up on the couch, and for me personally it also means the return of craft projects. I much prefer to have something to do with my hands while the tv is on, and being the big Martha-loving hands-on-hips-placing picked-last-for-team-sports gay boy that I am, it'll usually mean needlework.

This winter maybe I should celebrate my newly found vegetarianism, work up a vintage-style bowling shirt or maybe make some pirate gear for the new little ones in my life... like these folks have.

Oh, and if you think craft is for nerds, some people would beg to differ. Although it can all go horribly wrong.

I Dated A Guy Like That Once

Delicious! Nutritious!
Bit slow but friendly.


Japanese restaurant; Parramatta Road, Sydney. March, 2005.

I have to smile every time I pass this Japanese Restaurant; who couldn't find their honesty truly charming?

Buddhist Recovery

A little while back I made a new friend through this site, Bodhi. He writes openly about his experiences with being gay, Buddhist and in recovery from alcohol and drugs. He, and another recovering Dharma student Paul, have just launched a wonderful new site Buddhist Recovery. Their main aim is to act as a resources centre for people interested in a Buddhist approach to overcoming addictions, and already contains a lot of reviews of useful Dharma books. Check it out.

Notes To Self

Dear Me,
Eating Weight Watchers(TM) Apricot Pies(TM) is all well and good. But maybe three at a sitting, sort of, defeats the purpose?
Regards,
Me.

----

Mr Darling Me,
Next time you get a song stuck in your head, please make sure it is a less embarassing one than this.
Cordially,
Me

Phlegm Redux

Oh crap, I'm sick. Sore throatey, chesty, coughey sort of thing that has me sounding like a slightly less butch Brenda Vaccaro.*

My get up and go has got up and went, so here's a poor excuse for an entry in the shape of a quick run-down of the past few days.

Saturday I spent the day all day at teachings at the Buddhist centre I go to, this one was given by our Tibetan teacher Geshe Samten and was on the topic of the Four Buddhist Seals. (Not these sorts of seals.)

Sunday I was off to an Anglican church for the Christening of the new baby of some friends of mine, and then a picnic morning tea/lunch in the parklands (in the middle of Sydney) called The Domain. Everyone went their seperate ways just after lunch, so I decided to stroll through the nearby Art Gallery of New South Wales as I wanted to see the recently refurbished and expanded Asian Art collection. Fabulous.

Monday I called in sick and spent the day manifesting sickness and misery. Nothing to see here. Un-pretty.

Yesterday I was back at work and had an uneventfull day in the office, trying not to pass on the plague, watched some evening tv and had a heroically bad night's sleep. Likewise, today and probably ditto on the bad night's sleep tonight.

So there you have it. No cat pictures, no haikus or sentences ending in OMG!, but a blog entry nonetheless.

* That's a pop culture reference that'll sort the over 35's from the boys, so to speak.

Bollywood Lite

If you have read this site for a little while now you'll know that I love Bollywood films and spend way too much time watching them. So it was with some interest that I saw the 'Bollywood cross-over' film Bride & Prejudice the other evening. It was... okay.

Some things about the film bugged me. I understand that they used the 'Westerners think India is quaint and backward' cliché to help create dramatic tension and the 'star crossed lovers' situation required by the plot. However, but much of the time I felt it made the Western characters (and the ex-pat Indians) look like idiots and the Indian characters sound defensive and strident. Also, there were the big song & dance productions I love, but in English and sometimes with Western style music and at times they sounded a bit like bad songs from a low-rent musical. Maybe it's because I'm too much a fan of traditional Bollywood films, which this isn't.

Now for the good stuff, so you don't think it's all bad. It's mostly good fun. There are some gorgeous set-pieces in the film which use the beauty of India to great effect, and the early (more traditional) musical numbers are great. The very handsome Martin Henderson* and cutie-pie Daniel Gillies** are correctly attractive as Darcy and Wickham. As in all Bollywood films the women are beautiful, the parents know best and it all works out in the end.

Ultimately, I'd suggest see it and judge for yourself.

[Interesting factoids: * New Zealand actor Martin Henderson is the suited cutie in Britney's 'Toxic' music video, and he originally made his name on a New Zealand soapie called 'Shortland Street', and a short-lived Australian soapie about teenage athletes called 'Sweat'. ** Daniel Gillies is a Canadian by birth, but raised in New Zealand also, and also appeared on New Zealand tv. What is it with all these Kiwis?]

Utzon's Sydney Icon

The Museum of Sydney. March, 2005.

Last weekend Mikey and I went to see the exhibition The Studio of Jørn Utzon: Creating the Sydney Opera House at the Museum of Sydney. It was the first time I had ever set foot inside the Museum of Sydney and I can't say that I was all that impressed with the regular permanent collection (although I wouldn't grump "The worst museum ever!" as I overhead one British tourist say). The Utzon exhibition was excellent though, and worth every cent of the $7 cover to get into the museum.

Like millions of people the world over I absolutely love the Sydney Opera House building. When I was a teenager I was seriously considering becoming an architect, and to this day I have a love of buildings and architectural drawing that borders on the obssesive. I have been to quite a few perfomances at the Opera House, and one very poignant and beautiful memorial service for the partner of a friend of mine who died a few years back. The drama of the building and the beauty of the setting has to be seen close-up to really appreciate it. Few Sydney experiences are more beautiful than to stand outside the building on a warm summer's evening during the intermission of a great perfomance, and watch the lights of the ferries on the harbour and the cars crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Enchanting.

The exhibition isn't huge, but has some very interesting models, drawings and diagrams that show the progress of the building, including the future changes that are to be made to add an outside loggia and new interior space that Utzon has designed. The original interior concepts for the halls are interesting (and no doubt would have avoided the current acoustic problems), and give a tease as to what the re-development of the interiors might be like when they are undertaken in the near future. It's also interesting to see how Utzon used inspiration from diverse sources such as Mayan temples and orange segments as inspiration.

More information on Utzon and his other works can be found here.

[If, like me, you are a bit obsessive about typing things like the ø letter correctly, try this list of numeric codes for ISO Latin-1 characters for html. Yes I'm a nerd.]

Recovering Childphobic

I was kind of notorious amongst my friends for being very uncomfortable around small children. I didn't dislike them particularly, didn't overly like them particularly, I was kind of neutral on them. However I generally avoided them because I had no idea how to relate to them; "So, tell me about yourself", never really worked for example. I was uncomfortable physically interacting with them for fear of breaking them, or making them cry/puke/explode into a thousand pieces. I'm also a youngest child, gay, and move in an inner city urban and largely childless circle.

Until recently.

So now I have a couple of das kinder in my life through friends who recently had babies. Aemon and Miss Grizzobel Moans have had quite an impact. Aemon is still very, very small, and so is more of an abstract concept still. However Mizz Grizz and I are becoming fast friends. On Sunday I was at a farewell party for a friend of mine and had some quality cuddle time with her, including letting her fall asleep on my chest. She was snoring quietly and the sensation was not unlike a cat purring.

That's more potent mojo than anything I can stand up against.

Hectic, Much?

Gah, the past (almost) week has been a busy mix of activity. Work, night school, a birthday party, a farewell party, old friends in town for the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, a full day meditation retreat, volunteer work... Fortunately the rest of this week is looking a little more sane.

At least I pencilled in sane in my diary for this week.

The List

This meme has been doing the rounds a bit lately, and Bodhi suggested I post mine here. I'm always up for a challenge, so here goes.

My 'yes' answers are in bold

001. Bought everyone in the pub a drink
002. Swam with wild dolphins
003. Climbed a mountain
004. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
005. Been inside the Great Pyramid
006. Held a tarantula
007. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
008. Said “I love you” and meant it
009. Hugged a tree
010. Done a striptease
011. Bungee jumped
012. Visited Paris
013. Watched a lightning storm at sea
014. Stayed up all night long, and watched the sun rise
015. Seen the Northern Lights
016. Gone to a huge sports game
017. Walked the stairs to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
018. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
019. Touched an iceberg
020. Slept under the stars
021. Changed a baby’s diaper
022. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
023. Watched a meteor shower
024. Gotten drunk on champagne
025. Given more than you can afford to charity
026. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
027. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
028. Had a food fight
029. Bet on a winning horse
030. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
031. Asked out a stranger
032. Had a snowball fight
033. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier
034. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
035. Held a lamb
036. Enacted a favorite fantasy
037. Taken a midnight skinny dip
038. Taken an ice cold bath
039. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
040. Seen a total eclipse
041. Ridden a roller coaster
042. Hit a cricket ball for 6.
043. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days
044. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
045. Adopted an accent for an entire day
046. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
047. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
048. Had two hard drives for your computer
049. Visited all states.
050. Loved your job for all accounts
051. Taken care of someone who was drunk
052. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
053. Had amazing friends
054. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
055. Watched wild whales
056. Stolen a sign
057. Backpacked in Europe
058. Taken a road-trip
059. Gone rock climbing
060. Lied to foreign government’s official in that country to avoid notice
061. Midnight walk on the beach
062. Sky diving
063. Visited Ireland
064. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
065. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
066. Visited Japan
067. Benchpressed your own weight
068. Milked a cow
069. Alphabetized your CDs
070. Pretended to be a superhero
071. Sung karaoke
072. Lounged around in bed all day
073. Posed nude in front of strangers
074. Scuba diving
075. Got it on to “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye
076. Kissed in the rain
077. Played in the mud
078. Played in the rain
079. Gone to a drive-in theater
080. Done something you should regret, but don’t regret it
081. Visited the Great Wall of China
082. Discovered that someone who’s not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog
083. Dropped Windows in favor of something better
084. Started a business
085. Fallen in *like* and not had your heart broken
086. Toured ancient sites
087. Taken a martial arts class
088. Swordfought for the honor of a woman
089. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
090. Gotten married
091. Been in a movie
092. Crashed a party
093. Loved someone you shouldn’t have
094. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy
095. Gotten divorced
096. Eaten meat completely uncooked and loved it
097. Gone without food for 3 days
098. Made cookies from scratch
099. Won first prize in a costume contest
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice
101. Gotten a tattoo
102. Found that the texture of some materials can turn you on
103. Rafted any River
104. Been on television news programs as an “expert” *
105. Got flowers for no reason
106. Kissed someone who just came in the door, before they had a chance to say anything
107. Got so drunk you don’t remember anything
108. Been addicted to some form of illegal drug
109. Performed on stage
110. Been to a Casino
111. Recorded music
112. Eaten shark
113. Had a one-night stand
114. Gone to Thailand
115. Seen your favorite band live
116. Bought a house
117. Been in a combat zone
118. Buried one/both of your parents
119. Shaved or waxed your pubic hair off
120. Been on a cruise ship
121. Spoken more than one language fluently
122. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
123. Bounced a check
124. Performed in Rocky Horror **
125. Read - and understood - your credit report
126. Raised children
127. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
128. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
129. Created and named your own constellation of stars
130. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
131. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
132. Called or written your local member
133. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
134. - More than once? - More than thrice?
135. Walked or climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge
136. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
137. Hated yourself the morning after
138. Had plastic surgery
139. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
140. Wrote articles for a large publication
141. Lost over 100 pounds
142. Held someone while they were having a flashback
143. Piloted an airplane
144. Petted a stingray
145. Broken someone’s heart
146. Helped an animal give birth
147. Been fired or laid off from a job
148. Won money on a T.V. game show
149. Broken a bone
150. Killed a human being
151. Gone on an African photo safari
152. Ridden a motorcycle
153. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
154. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
155. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
156. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
157. Ridden a horse
158. Had major surgery
159. Had sex on a moving train
160. Had a snake as a pet
161. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
162. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
163. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
164. Visited more foreign countries than Australian states
165. Visited all 7 continents
166. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
167. Eaten kangaroo meat
168. Fallen in love at an ancient Mayan burial ground
169. Been a sperm or egg donor
170. Eaten sushi
171. Had your picture in the newspaper
172. Had 2 (or more) healthy romantic relationships for over a year in your lifetime
173. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
174. Gotten someone fired for their actions
175. Gone back to school
176. Parasailed
177. Changed your name
178. Petted a cockroach
179. Eaten fried green tomatoes
180. Read The Iliad
181. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
182. Dined in a restaurant and stolen silverware, plates, cups because you actually needed them
183. ...and gotten 86?ed from the restaurant because you did it so many times,they figured out it was you
184. Taught yourself an art from scratch
185. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
186. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
187. Skipped all your school reunions
188. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
189. Been elected to public office
190. Written your own computer language
191. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
192. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
193. Built your own PC from parts!!!
194. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
195. Had a booth at a street fair
196. Dyed your hair
197: Been a DJ
198: Found out someone was going to dump you via LiveJournal
199: Written your own role playing game
200: Been arrested***

Of course know I look like a romantic, well travelled, carniverous (past tense), Rocky Horror performing, D & D playing, Star Trek convention costume contest winning, Astronomy Club nerd... which of course, I am.

* Partly true, it wasn't a news broadcast but it was a 'ladies programme' on a local tv channel called Touch of Elegance and I was presenting diamond and gold Swiss watches for a boutique I worked for.

** About 60 something times, one week as Frank 'N' Furter and another week as a Transylvanian

*** Not actually arrested, but took part in a civil disobedience action in Tasmania and signed a stat dec to say I had committed sodomy on Tasmanian soil, something which then could have gotten me a jail term. (I was in the company of about 50 other queers, safety in numbers!)

The Night Of A Thousand Stars, And Maybe Paris Hilton

Oscar Saves. February, 2005.

So last night was the Academy Awards, and for the first time ever... I elected to pass. This is a huge change for me. In the past I bugged all my workmates about sticking to a self imposed media blackout so the awards would be surprises, had friends around for Oscars parties, just nerded out on the sheer glamour of it all.

This year. Err, not so much.

I went to my course at the Buddhist centre (Buddha School as a friend calls it) and I had a choice to make. Tape the Oscars. Tape Desperate Housewives and The Biggest Loser.

Oh, you know who won.

[Addenda: Just to prove that I haven't totally had a personally transplant, or become a pod person, or something, I've been cackling it up over examples of Oscars Fashion Heinousness over at Go Fug Yourself. 'Fugly Is The New Pretty', indeed.]