I Am Dubious About Anyone Who Describes Themselves As 'Elite'

It seems that getting up a good of head of hate on Ikea is more common than I thought it was. To quote this website:

We are the Elite Designers. We design profound and beautiful furniture for those with wealth and taste. Which is why IKEA makes us furious, livid and angry. Do their designs live, breathe and growl? Are they born from tears of pain? Do they gently touch the bottom of the human soul? Pah! Of course not, no more than weeds can attract a bee. The big blue place is odious, its affordable design is sickeningly shallow and we loathe it even more than we loathe football. Please join us in our unqualified hatred.

Jeezalou, put down the cough syrup and get a grip on yourself. Who knew that it was the role of a side table to 'touch the bottom of the human soul'?

[Oh, and by the way I suspect the entire thing might just be somewhat tongue in cheek. I sure as hell hope so.]

Do You Think He Blogs Wearing A Safari Suit*?

I'm in love with the vintage visual ephemera at the One Man Safari blog. I'm especially fond of the Kellogg's Space Cadet and other vintage sci-fi images, and the pics from when UFO's were only known as flying saucers.

Where he finds all this stuff I do not know, but I'm in awe.

* A reference to the great Aussie sartorial pinnacle that is the Safari Suit.

Weekend Haikus

In lieu of a boring old recap of the events of the past hectic weekend, here's a few weekend recap haikus to bring your enthusiasm for this blog crashing down around your ankles.

Saturday Haikus:

"Volunteering at the Buddhist Centre Bookshop"
Oh, big stack of books
You taunt me and my price tags,
pen, and aching hand!

"As Out Of Place As A Sober Vegetarian At A Barbecue"
Karen's barbecue
I played with her dogs all night
and loved the deaf one

Mmm, fried halloumi
I soberly ate my cheese
Whilst carnivores drank

Sunday Haikus:

"Renate's Party in the Mountains"
Sunday morning drive
With Benita and Dayna
To the Blue Mountains

Scones with jam and cream
In a cafe on the way
Taste like my Gran made

Celebrate today
Renate was East German
Now ist ein Aussie!

Worship At The Shrine Of Ikea

Hey Bodhi, this one's for you. :-)

[For the back story, check out Bodhi's Ikea tirade here.]

Deja Whatsit

I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about this blog and even this blog that seems oddly familiar to me...

Good Things, Small Packages - You Get The Idea.

I live in quite a small little cottage, but some of the teeny tiny apartments in the Smallest, Coolest Apartment Contest over at Apartment Therapy have to be seen to be believed. A list of all the apartment entries is here, and as of writing this there were 30 in the contest.

Not surprisingly, shopping at Ikea seems to be a prerequisite for most apartment dwellers. You know, not that I have the Ikea catalogue memorised or anything...

Ji Wallace. Medallist, Hottie, Queer.

Australian Olympic trampoline silver medalist [on the right, in the photo] at Sydney 2000 (and gold medal cutie pie) Ji Wallace has come out as gay. To his credit, he stated that he had always been comfortable with his sexuality and that it really wasn't that big a deal. How wonderful, and if only one young person sees him saying 'this is who I am and it isn't a bad thing' then he has done a very good thing in my opinion.

I do understand that there is PR exercise in all this too, in getting his name back into the papers at a time when he is seeking sponsorship. However, that in and of itself is positive in that he doesn't particulary see this as a handicap to sponsorship.

I remember watching his performance at the Sydney Olympics and being impressed with his performance as well as having lust in my heart for his trim, compact cuteness, and thinking 'you know, I think he might be'. Now if only other certain Australian Olympic athletes would do the same...

My Return

Hey y'all, I'm back.

I just had the singularly hardest and most rewarding experience of my life. It was incredible. On top of the meditation experience the venue was also absolutely beautiful. Deep inside native bushland on the border of one of the National Parks, where the only sounds were nature and the very occasional distant airplane. Coming back to the city with all senses heightened and raw from a week of deep and intensive meditation was a jangling experience. It has taken a little while to settle back in and get my head around everyday matters like the new job I started today.

I'll post a proper write-up of the week sometime in the next few days, at the moment I'm still processing the experience and going through the bucket load of photos I took before and after the actual retreat part of the week. I also have to resolve my computer 'issues', but hopefully that'll happen in the next few days.

The Big Long Think

Well I'm off in the morning on my 8 day meditation retreat. 8 days of mindfullness at a retreat hermitage in a beautifull bushland setting. I'm really looking forward to it, especially to what it might mean in terms of strenghtening and deepening my meditation practice.

Back after the 24th... with posts and links, and everything! Be happy and well until then.

Stop The War!

I just bit the bullet and rang the marine construction company to tell them I had accepted the job offer with the share plan advisors and would have to turn down their offer. (See my previous entry) I felt really bad because those guys were so good to me while I was temping with them, and literally offered to have me back and invent a position for me. I really needed to resolve this whole bidding war issue though before I went on retreat this weekend, waaaaay to distracting! It didn't feel right to leave them hanging for an answer either.

I think I have made the right decision though, in terms of career possibilities, income and working environment I think this current job will be hard to beat. Today we are off to lunch to celebrate my joining the firm, and I can say I am now in 100%.

How times change. Just 4 months ago I left my old job after months of wanting to leave and not having the courage to just pack it in. I was feeling under appreciated and certainly under paid, and a bit beaten down by the whole experience. So things are on the upswing. I'm not ego-ing out on the whole bidding war thing, but it has given the portion of my self-esteem which relates to work a boost. It's nice to be appreciated.

Oh My Giddy Aunt!

Hi internets, sorry you haven't heard from me for a while! Here's a quick recap of the state of play.

I finished my contract job at the marine construction company (boo!) and went straight into another temp assignment (yay!) for a couple of weeks, only to have the construction company tell me that they want me back for about three months once I have finished this current temp assignment (more yay!). Towards the end of my first week at this new job, they offered me a permanent position (yay!) on a substantial sum of money - about a 33% increase from my temp salary (YAY!!). I rang the construction company and told them I wasn't coming back (boo!) because I had a permanent job offer, but they rang me with a counter offer. Yes folks, I'm the subject of a bidding war.

Still with me? Good.

My computer died (BOO!). There is no (Yay!) in this part of the story...

Two good friends of mine who were married recently are in the process of splitting up (Boo!), and by all accounts he is being a real prick about it (BOO!!). Oh, and as they are my landlords... well who knows what that'll mean in the division of assets (potential boo!).

On the Buddhism front, I leave this weekend for an 8 day meditiation retreat (yay!) in silence (---!), which I am really looking forward to. Expect a flurry of posts after the 25th, as I have been starved for communication all that time. I resigned my volunteer job as the Buddhist centre care manager as the position of running the bookshop became vacant (yay!). So know I'm ordering like a mad thing so that we have enough books for the big events that are coming up in our calendar over the next few months. But hey, it's shopping, so I'm more than fine with that.

So, phew. The upshot is that in the near future my ongoing financial stress will ease and I'm really pleased that I have the position at the Buddhist centre that I wanted. Tough times are ahead for my married friends, but we'll see what happens. As to the dead computer, that's in the lap of the gods (and my techie room-mate).

Farewell To A Spiritual Teacher

A disciple with sense should not accept as his spiritual teacher someone who lacks compassion or who is angersome, vicious or arrogant, possessive, undisciplined or boasts of his knowledge.

(A spiritual teacher should be) stable (in his actions), wise, patient and honest. He should neither conceal his short-comings nor pretend to possess qualities he lacks. He should be an expert in the meanings (of the tantra) and its ritual procedures (of medicine and turning back obstacles). Also he should have loving compassion and a knowledge of the scriptures.
Excerpt: Fifty Stanzas on the Spiritual Teacher
Aryashura, 1st Century BC.

Almost every Monday night since July last year I have been attending my local Buddhist centre to take part in a two year Buddhist studies course. Tonight was the last night of the current module of the course, The Spiritual Teacher. This is a big and important topic in the particular tradition of Tibetan Buddhism I am involved in (and much bigger than any blog post), but tonight as we discussed the importance of the spiritual teacher we also touched on its importance in other faiths, not just in Buddhism.

A faith other than my own lost an important spiritual teacher this week with the death of Pope John Paul II, a man who was shepherd, guide and spiritual 'father' to millions of people around the world. I am not a Christian and so don't personally follow (or sometimes agree) with his point of view, however I have come to understand the importance he played in the spiritual lives of many millions of Christians. Importantly, especially from a Buddhist perspective, his willingness to show his suffering and to not shy away even from televising images of his body after death (as he requested) should encourage us all to appreciate that we have this the 'human condition' in common.

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.]

Dysfunctional, Party Of Two!

My last post about the Amazing Race prompted a little hating on Jonathon and Victoria. Well, if you can stomach it, they have an 'official' website. Surprisingly it isn't called www.mentalmagician.com (and would that make Victoria a Mental Magician's Assistant? I'm just askin'.).

I love the one line entry on their so-called blog "Dr Phil Feb 15 2005 CBS 9pm enough said". Oh, from what I hear nowhere near enough was said, especially by Victoria. She got a little bit of side-line coaching from the Mental Magician and got about 3 sentences in. Control issues, much?

I hope this eventually airs in Oz, I think it would make for sad but fascinating viewing.

In Media Res (Or, I Watch Too Much Darn Television)

Aussie Queer Eye For The Straight Guy has been cancelled after putting to air just three episodes. It was a tad lackluster, but I didn't think it was that bad, and the second and third episodes were much better than the premiere. The ratings sucked big time, apparently.

I'm digging the second season of My Restaurant Rules, despite the move away from showing as much of the couples struggling to open their restaurants, and tricking up the format with the addition of classic reality tv show 'challenges'. It sooo does not hurt that Rob and Todd are quite the tasty dishes themselves. I do mourn the loss of the lovely Curtis Stone as host though.

My favourite show that I have never seen, has to be Project Runway. I first started reading the recaps after seeing the posts about it on Too Much Free Time. As far as I know nobody has plans to show the series in OZ alas.

Still loving Lost, Desperate Housewives and my beloved The Amazing Race. Oh, and trying hard to avoid reading any recaps of The Amazing Race, given that the series ended a while ago in the US and I still don't know who won...

Mizz Grizz

Sometimes, all you can do is stick Spit Rat(TM) on your head and hope the look works for you...


Isobel and Spit Rat(TM) at Sarah's birthday picnic. 26th January, 2005.

...even if it does make you look a little, well, drunken.


Isobel gets a buzz on. 26th January, 2005.

This is the delightful daughter of two friends of mine, 'Miss Grizzobel Moans' (aka Isobel). 6 months and going strong. I fell in love with her just a little bit yesterday. She sat in my lap for an hour or so; playing with my watch, pulling on my mala (Buddhist prayer beads) and grabbing baby fistfulls of the hair on my arms. Awwwww...

Get Me Henny Penny, Stat

When I arrived home this afternoon from a picnic in honour of my friend Sarah's birthday, I had trouble opening the front door. The reason? Apparently, while I was out HALF MY HOUSE FELL DOWN!

OK, not quite, but the architrave over the front door and one long side of the hallway came crashing down. I'm just glad none of us were under it and nothing else was damaged. Getting it fixed is going to be a huge pain, as I'll have to organise it myself. I rent from friends, who have now moved away. To Korea.

Of course it didn't happen while I was unemployed and could have hung around the house making small talk and inappropriately staring at some (hopefully) hunky repair men...

Two views of my modified hallway:

The sky really is falling. 26th February, 2005.

5 Songs That I Liked As A Teenager And I Foolishly Thought Gave Me Street Cred Because My Friends Had Never Heard Of Them

Money (That's What I Want) by the Flying Lizards, 1979. Melodic with just the right amount of cacophony, and the greatest deadpan vocals ever.

Lucky Number by Lena Lovich, 1979. Fab electronica overlaid with Lena's kooky vocals and eccentric stylings. (New Toy was excellent also.)

Love My Way by The Psychedelic Furs, 1981. Gravely vocals, a wonderful melody line and lush production values made into a track that manages to be tender, sad and a little angry.

Ever So Lonely by Monsoon feat. Sheila Chandra, 1982. Pre the 'World Music' pop phenomena Monsoon brought a fabulous mix of Indian rythms and instruments mixed with Western pop. Ever So Lonely was covered a couple of years ago, with most of the charm of the original being lost.

Guilty by Classix Nouveaux, 1982. New Romanticism meets Electronica, with a health mix of proto-Goth styling. Many years later lead singer Sal Solo went on to lead a Christian rock band.

Dear Internets,

Please excuse Andrew (the other one) from attending for the past few days. He has had a virus of the nastiest electronic kind, rendering his Beige Miracle Machine(TM) completely useless. Oh, and the dog ate his homework.

Signed,
The Parental Unit

Tick Tock Rover

Gary Numan and The Tubeway Army asked "Are friends electric?" Well, perhaps they should have asked "Is man's best friend clockwork?"

This new sculpture just showed up in my neighbourhood this past week, and I love it. It is a hugely tall fluted column with a strange clockwork dog on the top. So far it is shiny, pristine and lovely.

However, what does it all mean?


Sculpture. Newtown Square, King St, Newtown. February, 2005.

[Update: My local council newsletter has the scoop. The sculpture is by an artist called Richard Byrnes and this is one of three to be installed in ajoining neighbourhoods. They are poster bollards, they actually want people to stick their advertising posters on the column, rather than all over any other vertical surface in the area (as seems to be the case now). The dog theme was inspired by the dog friendly nature of my neighbourhood. Cool.]

Blogger Comments

Yay, finally Blogger have amended the comments system so that a Blogger account is no longer required to post as anything other than 'Anonymous'. On the comments screen there is now an additional option called 'Other' which allows you to enter a name and/or website url (both which are optional).

Down the track I might switch to another commenting system, but at least in the meantime this should help get around the annoying insistence of having a Blogger id when posting.

A Liberating Feeling

Today I participated in a wonderful Buddhist practice to liberate some animals from certain death (or to be more accurate, in this case some crustaceans from certain death). It may seem like lunacy to some of you, to spend a small fortune in money at a fish market to buy some beautiful big crabs, only to set them free. I must tell you though, the experience of seeing these guys turn and look at us after we let them go, and then turn and scuttle away into the deep, was a joyous thing. Prior to setting them free we spent the morning doing Buddhist rituals and chanting mantras to pray for long lives and auspicious rebirths for these guys. Even the sound guy who came along to record us for a religious radio programme got to set one free, and he was just as stoked as the rest of us to see these gorgeous creatures scuttle off to freedom.

We have done this practice previously, after first checking with the Fisheries Department (who gave their enthusiastic blessing) to make sure that it would not harm the ecology of the spot we release them into. Crabs were chosen because of their good chance of survival, and because they could be released without harming the environment. The organisers have also been careful to keep our releasing spot a secret, there is probably a lively colony of beautiful big crabs out there by now and the last thing we would want is for someone to go and fish them out for dinner.


Mantras and blessings for a long life and auspicious rebirth. February, 2005.


Liberation. February, 2005.


Mr Pinchy waves goodbye. February, 2005.

Friendship

The past few days have given me some really cool lessons about friendship to ponder over.

This afternoon I went to a teaching at the Buddhist Centre I attend, and during a break we sat outside and had tea, fruit and cake in the garden. It was so nice to sit there with a group of 'spiritual friends' (even those I didn't know all that well) and feel like we were all on the same page; all looking at life differently but with a similar seeking attitude, a similar compassionate outlook and a similar code of ethics. No matter what religion you hold dear (if any) having a group of spiritual friends is of great value I think.

During the week someone who reads this site took the trouble to send me an email and share some of his experience as a fellow gay Buddhist Sydneysider. Our life stories are quite different, but we have both ended up at a similar place and both value these kind of friendships. He seems like a great guy (Hi Bodhi!) and maybe a new friendship will come from it.

Later this afternoon I was talking with a friend of mine who has been having a tough time lately. Just very recently things have gotten to be even more difficult for her it would seem, with depression and then the messy end of a problematic relationship. When I was talking to her she was giving me a bit of a run down of what was going on in her life, and at the end of it as we made plans to try and catch up tomorrow she shared some advice her therapist had given her. Spend more time with your friends, they love you.

Maybe I need to hear this lesson too. I have a loving circle of friends, but if things aren't going well I don't find it that easy to share it with them. I'm not sure why, it certainly isn't that I'm not an open person, because I'm very able to discuss my feelings. I think maybe it stems from having grown up tagged as 'the mature one' or 'the stable guy', and in my friendships I have been the one that was a shoulder to cry on. I'm also quite introspective, and am often more likely to go away and think my way through a problem than to share it. It works for me, but it can mean that it seems that I retreat from the world at times.

Since leaving my job at the end of last year I've had a few up and down times. Nothing major, but I see now that I have been isolating myself a bit from my regular circle of friends. I haven't had money to do stuff until recently, so it has gotten to be easier to sit at home and surf the net, watch tv etc. I've also been very involved in the Buddhist centre which has meant that I need to be more proactive about seeing these other friends.

Can you make February Resolutions?

Not Your Average Graffiti

This guy just appeared recently, and I kind of like him. He's... festive.


Graffiti art mural. Camperdown Rest Park, Newtown. February, 20005.

My Waters Are Running Fast & Shallow

Today, being Friday, I'm feeling unusually superficial:

*surface magazine makes me want to be thin, rich, Eurotrash

Need a pair of (shush, last season) Balenciaga duds at 50% off? A cheeky Helmut Lang tank top at $108, U.S.? The folks at Yoox can show the way.

However, skip their CD range. When I checked it out it consisted of two cds. That's not a range, that's the contents of someone's glove compartment

I though this company would sell all manner of cool bombs and trip wire activated things to foil the Road Runner, with a name like ACME. They do make nice computer bags though. I wonder if they have one to fit a second hand, circa 1995, beige miracle machine, about the size of a family sedan, with a cooling fan that sounds like a Hell's Angels drive-by... because I could use one of those. (It'd need wheels I suspect.)

Rufus Redux

Last night I went to see everyone's favourite 'mo crooner Rufus Wainwright at The Basement here in Sydney, with my ex and a couple of friends. Mikey is a huge fan of his music, and introduced me to his stuff early on in our relationship when he bought a CD of his for me as a gift. I think Mikey got initially tuned into the pining for the boy you can't have/unrequited love songs Rufus writes and sings so well, before moving on to his more joyous songs.

Some impressions from the gig:

40 minutes late on stage is quite a while to keep any audience waiting.

Rufus is cute, although is it just me or does he seem, well, to be kind of out of it just a little?

Is he slurring? Yup, I think he might be a bit drunk.

He sounds camper than I thought he would. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but from his singing voice I thought he'd sound a bit more masculine.

A disasterous blind-date of Mikey's is in the crowd, and Mikey's trying to avoid him and being a bit rattled.

Rufus is excellent, and if he was drunk initially, well, he seems to have recovered fast.

He's very funny, particularly the story about the time Bea Arthur told him to fuck off. What is it with gay men and The Golden Girls?

Sobriety (mine, not Rufus's) is good, but I think concerts are a bit more fun when you have a couple of shots under your belt. I have drunk so much soda water that I need to pee like a demon, and there is no hope of me getting through the crowd to the bathroom.

Wow, three encores and about 8 songs later it's getting late and I think the staff want to go home. Me too.

All in all, a fantastic night!

Best Product + Company Name, Ever!

So day four of my new job rolled around yesterday, doing bookkeeping/payroll and general accounts type stuff for a construction company. I'm plugging away at the stack of invoices, when I get to one from these guys.

It took all my resolve not to spray coffee everywhere and a good couple of minutes to pull myself together. Who ever said accounting wasn't fun?!

The worst thing, I pity the poor receptionist that has to answer their phones all day...

Critical Eye For The Queer Eye

Wednesday night saw the premiere of the Aussie version of 'Queer Eye For The Straight Guy'. I was quite interested to see how well they would do with it, given that a)it would likely be an 'imitation' of a known format, always problematic, b)interest in the original Queer Eye seems to be waning slightly, as the unchanging format and much of the gags become repetitous and c)much of the charm of the original is in the casting and personalities of the guys.

Well, they actually did better than I thought, but in the end my reaction was a bit meh. Sure it is only episode 1, but it may or may not have been the first episode they filmed and it is the one they chose to premiere with. On the US series the first episode 'Butch' was one of the best of the season, and you would assume they wanted to open with a strong episode here too.

The format was basically a repeat of the US version, right down to the camera shots even, which was to be expected. I was pleased to see the opening graphics had a bit more of an upscale look, more of a 'indie graphic novel' style of design about the drawings, and of course it was fun to see the Sydney skyline shown and the use of 'Bent St' (which is a real street in Sydney) to replace the US 'Gay St'. I always thought the US title graphics looked a bit cheap, like they made them for a little show they thought might not get picked up (elements of truth in that).

I think a big part of the problem was that the 'guy' came across as a bit reticent, he didn't seem all that emotionally involved in the process - although the proposal to his girlfriend was quite touching. There wasn't a great deal of the 'process' shown I thought either, we got a quick lesson in why shirts have collar stays and how to buy missmatched chairs and fish, and then it was pretty much done. Pretty much no shots of the house being decorated, no haircut/skincare grooming yadda yadda except instructions to shower, shave and put on moisturiser.

The clothes were nice but a bit bland, the house was likewise nice but a bit bland, ditto food... I'll watch the next episode with an open mind, but at this stage I think it is not adding anything new to the franchise, except maybe that now we will see products and stores that we recognise.

Meh.

Working 9 To 5 (30)

The time finally came to get off my rapidly expanding ass and emerge blinking into the sunlight. I started my new job on Thursday. It's only estimated to be a five week contract position, but I'm replacing someone who is very ill and has gone on extended sick leave (and it was whispered to me she may never come back, she's that sick). I hope for her sake that she recovers. It's a basic bookkeeping gig although the company is quite large, and so it's a busy office. They are really well organised and both the office and my co-workers are nice, so I think it'll be a good job for however long it lasts.

Oh and even better, it's a construction company and I had no idea that two of my new favourite words would be junior engineer. Add those my other already favourite word redhead, and well, some serious mojo right there. This particular Vision Splendid passes by my office about 20 times a day, but who's counting?

Hot Town, Summer In The City.

Village sculpture. Camperdown Rest Park, 2004.

Today is hot. An hour ago the weather report put the temperature at 36C (97F). Walking to the Buddhist centre this morning to do some volunteer cleaning I felt baked, seared. A couple of hot and tiring hours of cleaning later, and I'm spent. Fortunately I ran into my friend James and his little daughter Isobel down in Newtown, just as they were about to scurry home out of the heat. So my 10 minute walk home became a couple of minutes in an air-conditioned car instead. Sweet.

Newtown is a bit like a village, I can often bump into someone I know when I'm walking along the King St shops. This sculpture (above) is an apt piece for the neighbourhood I think. A little village surrounded by a maze, which Sydney definately can be.

I grabbed a DVD of the M. Night Shyamalan film The Village while I was in Newtown, which reminded me that I had taken the picture above a while back. I liked the look of the film very much, but found it curiously uninvolving. I guess it was partly because I already knew the 'twist' at the end, but I just didn't find that I cared enough about anybody to be really invested in it, nor did Shyamalan hold the suspense through the film I thought. Having said that, there were some great perfomances in the ensemble cast, including the lead Bryce Dallas Howard, and there was much to enjoy in the film. 6/10 maybe.

Reasons To Be Cheerfull, Part I

I avoided posting anything yesterday, out of respect for the blogosphere. Yes my ducks yesterday was woe, woe, WOE IS ME! day. I woke up with a headache and a sore throat, which turned out to be the high point. There was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Of course, I'm not talking literally here but I think I came close.)

Anyhoo. Today is a better day:

The weather is indescribably gorgeous

I had had a smashing falafel, eggplant and homous wrap for lunch

Followed by a Blueberry Danish ice cream (so wrong, and yet so right)

I got a phone call from the employment agency and I have a temp job starting later this week, which should last for 5 weeks

Tonight is the second week of the current module of my Buddhist course, and I'm really looking forward to it

While I'm listing all the Good Things(tm), I went over to my ex's apartment on Saturday and we hung out and watched a few DVDs. I got to see one of my favourite films of all time again, Hedwig And The Angry Inch. Yeah Gods I love this film! Then to add colour and shade we watched something not so great, Equilibrium. Eh, not good. Potential, but not good.

Equilibrium Haikus

Christian Bale looks cute
Sean Bean likes to feel, that's bad
They both have nice hair

The future is grey
Long dark coats, look like Prada
Where is Keanu?

Latter Days And Happy/Sad Days

I rented this film Latter Days the other day. Considering that it was the project of a first time director and starred a couple of rookie actors, I thought the film was quite well done. In other words, it isn't perfect but the charm of the leads and the spirit of the film carry it well over the odd rough spots. The fact that the two leads are both very handsome was also a bonus! On balance I really enjoyed it, in fact I watched it twice before taking the DVD back to the video store.

What I didn't expect was my emotional reaction to it. You see the film is a tale of star crossed lovers, with the Mormon Church and the huge cultural edifice built around the church as the divide between the Montagues and the Capulets. I won't give away the plot (rent it, I'm certain you'll find the film enjoyable) but it touched on a few places in me that had me crying out of all proportion with how happy/sad the film was. I walked around for a few hours afterwards with a lump in my throat, feeling like I could cry at any moment.

I tried to put together what it was that upset me so. I think it touched on a part of me that is missing having a big love in my life. I don't particularly feel lonely, but I think there is a nugget of loneliness there that was touched by the romance in the film. A feeling of being overlooked. A need to feel that someone has said I choose you, above all others. A want to have that sort of excitement where the sight of someone's face across a crowded room makes you happy, safe, wanted. It isn't just about me either, I feel the need to channel my love, to care about someone deeply.

Also, when I was at the end of my teens I had a boyfriend who came from a Mormon background. He had a terrible time with his family, they threw him out of home and he ended up sleeping in their garage at one point. Years later, after we both moved on and lost touch, I found out that he had killed himself, when mutual old friends of ours tracked me down to see if I had contact details for his family, who he hadn't spoken to in years. Through a Mormon chap I worked with, and the extensive Mormon database, we tracked down his parents. At first they refused to collect his body or identify him, but with the help of their local pastor's intervention they eventually did and Michael was laid to rest. So I think part of my reaction, on top of the pity party about my own life, was a core of sadness I have carried around for years about what happened to Michael and about the walls of prejudice and religion that some people hide behind. RIP, sweetie.

Well, Future Shock Would Do That To The Best Of Us.

Used bookstore owner's kitty; King St, Newtown. December 2004.

Summer's End?

There is a sure fire way to tell when Summer is close to ending. Rain? Cooler weather? Shorter days? Well, yes. I guess.

But there is one other sure fire way to tell. The ratings season starts up again, and all of a sudden TV becomes watchable again. Lost, Amazing Race, Desperate Housewives... I might never leave the couch again.

Scritti Politi

The 'Cow Pain Manifesto'. Graffiti. Newtown Park, Sydney. February, 2005.

I love this piece of graffiti, even though it pisses me off that people deface public property in this way (in this case the sandstone wall that seperates my local park from the cemetary).

The lunacy and left-of-centreness of these sentiments crack me up. I mean a fruit forest, without any electricity to run my juicer? I think not, 'mkay?

I like to imagine the author standing there, paint brush in hand, with the following internal dialogue:

Now, is that cow's pain or cows' pain?... of screw it, who's going to care?!

Well, I think we all know the answer to that one. Although free life, that one sounds kind of good.

Link Love

Today, being Wednesday, I'm rocking the following linkage:

Using Aussie blogs to do a bit of surfing around my old home town of Adelaide. Eh, Adelaide? First things first, here's a city centre map.

Digging The Adelaide 'Alleys and Side Streets' Project, a curious and wonderful photoblog of the alleys and sidestreets of Adelaide.

This is a project of Sparrow, and Adelaide blogger who has a blog called Flight Of The Sparrow.

On a more global scale, I've been reading a lot of Indian weblogs lately and especially photoblogs. (I mentioned at least one of them previously, and talked about some others here.) So I happened across a newish blog from a local girl and was surprised to find one of the weblogs in her links list was an Indian photoblog I like, none other than Deepak G. Two degrees of seperation? Interweb, thou art always a surprise.

Boom Crash Opera

Rainy day lily. February, 2005.

Last night we had a tropical storm of epic proportions, a regular boom crash opera as one of my favourite expressions goes. As I write this another storm is rolling in, and it's dark as twilight and I can hear the thunder in the distance. It was so noisy with torrential rain and thunder last night that I hardly got any sleep, but this morning the garden was looking well quenched after the heat of the past few days.

I love storms. When I was a kid I used to stand on the front verandah and watch them with my mum, although we didn't get as many electrical storms in Adelaide as we do in Sydney, which is more tropical. Here comes the rain again.

Colour Me Surprised

Surprising recent events and things I have learned:

On Saturday morning when I was all on my lonesome at the Buddhist centre and waiting for the other volunteers to show, I opened the door to two door knocking Jehovah's Witnesses. If the fact that we actually had a pleasant chat wasn't surprising enough, the big surprise came when they stopped just short of calling me an idolator. Restraint.

Sitting in my bathrobe until lunchtime on the interweb is not getting me a job, but the seeds of laziness are bearing fruit on this website. Or something.

On a three hour car journey June Tabor is waaaaaay more boring to listen to than Emmylou Harris. The surprise? Someone makes Emmylou Harris sound interesting.

Having been told by my flatmate* that Dave came second on The Biggest Loser (yes, because I read US blogs I already know who wins), it was a pleasant surprise last night to see him get cut. How much do I love the dramatic ritual of the turning off of the refrigerator? Genius.

*Flatmate = Aussie slang for room mate. It makes more sense too, I mean we don't share a room. Ewww.

Monday Linkfest

Today, being Monday, I'm meandering my way through the following:

Showing my compassion for my Northern Hemisphere friends by reading Notes From A Blizzard Shut-In on McSweeney's. (Need I remind you guys it's Summer here? Heh, heh.)

We don't get snow in Sydney, so making a snowman is something I've never been able to do. Although I could manage this, you know, if I wanted to.

Have a taste for the bizzaro? Like ugly web design? How about JustGourds.com?

I've never seen the product, but I love the web design of the Oral Fixation Mints company. [Warning: very Flash-ey and slow to load on dial-up, but worth it.] I need to find some of those Mojito flavoured mints!

The designers of that website are also the guys behind other interesting websites such as Understanding Vorn and 10 x 10.

Still with my design nerd hat on, I also love the information maps and quirky Travel Time map created by the same guys. Very sobering, the weapons map.

Tchotchke Central

I'm not a huge fan of ornaments, tchotchkes or gewgaws. To paraphrase Edina Monsoon from this episode of AbFab:

"I want clean lines and surfaces, darling. I don't want things, on places. Clear! Clear!!"

My idea of hell would be a house full of this, or even worse this.

But having said that, I find these Mouseion Collection by Parastone figurines based on famous artworks oddly appealing. Especially the Bosch, Klimt and Dali figurines. (Not that I would ever buy the little dust collectors of course, but I think for the most part they have done a nice job of translating the images to 3D.)

[Link to Bosch figurines originally via Things Magazine.]

Chicken Little Is A Little Chicken

This week's Photo Friday theme is 'Youth'.

One thing I am not going to do, is hang around taking photos of youths... for that my friend is how one can get oneself into a whole mess of trouble. So rather than get labelled a Chicken Hawk, here's a children's ride-on chicken instead.

Neat segue, huh?


Ride-on chicken. Children's playground, Newtown. January, 2005.

Savage Beauty

[Apologies for the poor picture quality of the following pictures, I was shooting without a flash in low light.]

I just got back from the Vivienne Westwood restrospective exhibition that I mentioned on Friday. Oh. My. GOD! We drove three hours each way from Sydney to Canberra to catch the last day of the exhibition, and I'm so glad we did. It was amazing. Much bigger than I expected, with 150 complete outfits, along with accessories and audio-visual presentations.

The exhibition covered her early years of punk, fetish and rockabilly styles, but my main interest was in her work from the time of the hugely successful 'Pirates' clothing collection at the start of the 80's (which helped thrust 'New Romantic' or 'Blitz' stylings into the limelight) and onwards to today. I have a really strong interest in fashion in general, but I particularly have a huge interest in the history of clothing. What I love about Westwood from the 80's onwards is how she has mined the history of fashion for ideas, cuts, techniques and silhouettes but managed to put them together into something new and beautiful, filtered through her amazing eye and sense of humour.

[More of Westwood's 80's collections, including the famous Buffalo Gals look of the 'Nostalgia of Mud' collection, can be found here.]


Swing back suit and 'Booze' suit (L). 30th January, 2005.

For example the grey suit above called 'Booze' is beautiful in style and technique, but I love the humour of calling a suit which is an homage to Christian Dior's 'New Look' by the name 'Booze', when the first 'New Look' suite by Dior was called 'Bar'. Westwood is showing us her humour, naming her references, indicating the subversive elements she relishes and putting her working class cards on the table.

Westwood has stated that she feels she is reacting to, and helping to provide an antidote to, blandness and conformity in fashion. Sure, not all of the clothes are wearable in an everyday setting, but many are and most of the rest would make striking 'special occasion' clothes. These pics only have some of the more historically influenced styles, by way of examples.


Garments from the 'Pinked, Slashed & Pulled' collection (L) and 'Watteau' style gowns (R). January 30th, 2005.

There were too many amazing looks to really detail here, but I loved the direct and oblique references to literature, art and fashion history. The men's denim suit above which pays homage to the styles and clothing techniques of the late German Renaissance and Elizabethan era for example, or the huge ballgowns and harlequin suits which reference the paintings of Watteau. I guess what I love is the intellect that she puts into fashion, along with the beauty.

I know I'm gushing, but this was a great exhibition and it really opened my eyes to the range of a designer that I thought I already knew a lot about. Fantastic, a day well spent.

Slow On The Uptake, But I Get There In The End

I'm frequently slow to join the party. Years after everyone else, I got my first mobile 'phone. About 4 months ago I got a DVD player. iPod, not even on the horizon my friend. Harry Potter, read him first when everyone was on book four. Green is the new black, I'm still on black (ok, maybe brown).

To add to that list, I have just dicovered Witold Riedel and his beautiful words and pictures. One of the things he is famous for are his The Bear pictures, adventures in scale and emotional nuance with a tiny 2.5cm bear.

Oh and if you have never heard of Witold, well thanks, that makes me feel much better.

Friday Hit List

Today, being Friday, I'm into an odd assortment of stuff:

Ginger Chews. So gingery! So Chewy!

Perfect steamed rice. For once, truth in advertising. So perfect! So steamy! So... ricey! (OK I'm stopping now.)

I'm also into Nestle 'Alpine Blend' drinking chocolate, but I Googled 'Nestle' and got about a hundred Boycott Nestle! sites. So let's not go there, shall we?

Just to show it's not all about food, I'm digging beautiful women and drop-dead gorgeous divas.

Listening to PaulMac's fantastic 2001 release 3000 Feet High, especially the wonderful 'dumpee' song Just The Thing, and the best ever 'dumper' song The Sound Of Breaking Up. [Samples can be downloaded here.]

The hilarious T-shirt design you can download from Paul's site.

No, there's been no dumpee or dumper action in my life of late, just enjoying the PaulMac nostalgia.

On the subject of which, I'm also musing on how nice the Paul behind PaulMac is. I was introduced to him once at a local pub once. Sweet and friendly.

Eclectic, much?

Weekend Plans

I've been making plans for a busy weekend this weekend.

Saturday I'm leading a team of volunteers to completely spring clean the Buddhist Centre I attend in preparation for Losar, or the Tibetan New Year which is on Wednesday, February 9th. (A good explanation of Losar is here, but the dates mentioned relate to last year.) I'll be putting on a light lunch for all the volunteers and we'll be cleaning the place from top to bottom. It should end up being a fun day, even with the toilet scrubbing...

(I've posting on here quite a bit about the volunteer work I've been doing, which I hope isn't getting boring for you gentle reader, but I guess that's because I've been enjoying it so much. I's been a great way to contribute to the centre that I feels gives me so much, and it has also turned out to be a great way to meet other people around the centre and develop a real feeling of kinship. I'm liking it!)

Sunday I'm off to our nation's capital Canberra, to see the last day of the Vivienne Westwood exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. It's roughly a three hour trip each way, but it should be worth it. I love her stuff! I can't wait. Woot! It looks at this stage like it'll be my friends John & Judy, myself and possibly Mikey.

Vivienne Westwood is famous for helping re-introduce corsetry into fashion, and I've been helping to teach Judy how to make a corset to use for historical costuming. So it should be fun to have a look at Westwood's interpretation of corsets in particular.

Constructively Using My Time

Must. Get. Job. Must. Not. Watch. So. Many. Bollywood. DVDs.


$5 Bollywood DVDs. January, 2005.

All Praise The TIO.

Last week I received a strange and unsettling invoice for $69.50 from a telecommunications company, supposedly for having accessed a pay-per-view website. Now, I'm no angel, and I do admit to [ahem] maybe having, you know by accident, once or twice, viewed skanky porn sites... but I knew for sure that I had not knowingly accessed a pay-per-view site. I mean, frankly I'm both kinds of cheap and certainly wouldn't pay for anything I could find free elsewhere.

Soooo, I did a bit of surfing on the interweb super highway net and went to the telecom company's website. They had all sorts of crap on there about how the charges were likely incurred, including the helpful suggestion that even if you thought you didn't access a pay-per-view site you probably once clicked an 'OK' or 'Enter' button without reading the fine print (which I guess was probably hidden somewhere in transparent 4 point font most likey), or the even better suggestion that maybe someone broke into your house to use the internet, because people do that.

I figured I would get nowhere talking to these guys and they seemed very suspicious to me, so at my room mate's suggestion I sought out the site for the Australian Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO). The TIO handles all complaints against telecom companies in Australia. I spoke with a lovely chap called Bryan (who also sounded vaguely hot) and they sent a letter off to the telecom company on my behalf.

Not surprisingly I received a letter two days later from the telco to say they had dropped the charges and would bar my phone line from the site, so that I could not incur further charges. Fine with me guys, bar away.

Bryan and the TIO, I love you guys! Kisses!

Recapping

Ho-kay. So here's a quick recap of the past couple of days, in eccentric order and in my much beloved bulleted list form:

Tired, tired, tired... 3 out of the past 4 days have seen me loading and unloading trucks full of stuff, moving and setting up chairs, setting up and then pulling down a temporary bookshop. Physical labour, I'm just not made for it people.

Despite the tiredness, I'm very glad to have participated and it was fantastic to see so many people enjoy the teachings and feel like they took away something to think about.

Last night the teacher Ven Sangye Khadro gave a beautiful teaching called 'Awakening A Kind Heart', and today she leaves Sydney to finish the rest of her Australian tour.

I've bitten the bullet, swallowed that bitter pill, name a cliche about pride and I've done it, and gone ahead and started applying for any old job I can do and not just the ones I want to do.

I still think my initial job strategy would have worked, but I'd probably be bankrupted by the time I got there.

Today is Australia Day, which in addition to anything patriotic is also the anniversary of my father's death and my nephew's birthday. Band standing by and cue 'Circle of Life'.

Again With The Tiles!

The other day I posted about the decorative tile panels that many of the older cottages and terrace houses in my neighbourhood still have, and how much I like them. Here is a more unusual panel, given that it is made up of sort of a mish-mash of tiles from the era.


Decorative tiles, Newtown. January 20th, 2005.

I'm pretty sure that the tiles all date from the original time frame, and are not reproductions, but this panel is unusual in that it looks kind of amateur and lacks the plaster 'frame' around the tiles that most of these panels have. Two of the tiles at the top are even laid sideways to fit the space. I'm pretty sure that this panel was put up a long time ago though, because the house itself is a little bit run down and looks like it hasn't been renovated in many years. Maybe the original owners of this house decided to add a panel themselves?


Detail of various decorative tiles. January 20th, 2005.

All the tiles have a very 'art nouveau' to early 'art deco' look to them and are of the slightly bas-relief style, where the colours are different glazes that have been poured into the areas created by the raised edges of the design. I love these sorts of tiles.

Happy Exhausta-ma-pation

Phew, Friday through Sunday was very tiring but I had an amazing time; learnt a lot from the teacher and other students, made some new friends and generally had a productive and enjoyable time.

It all started at 8am on Friday with cleaning and preparing the bedroom for Ven. Sangye Khadro to use for the weekend, then from 10 until 6pm we were trekking everything to the hall, setting up the hall, bookshop and information tables. The meditation talk finished at 9pm and I was home by after 10.

Saturday kicked off at 8am again with collecting more stock for the centre's bookshop (sales were incredible) then making sure the hall was ready for 9am registrations and the 10 o'clock start. Then the day was a full programme of talks, guided meditations, and questions, and I was working the bookstall during all the breaks, with a 5pm finish.

Afterwards I caught up with Mikey and we went to see the Lord of the Rings exhibition of props and costumes at the Powerhouse Museum and then had a bite to eat back at his place. I was almost falling alseep into my food, so I headed home and was in bed about midnight.

Sunday was pretty much a repeat of Saturday, although we had to completely dismantle the hall at the end of the day and transport it all back to the centre. By the time I got home at about 7.30 last night I was ready for a shower, some food and bed.

Highlights of the course were definately:

The fantastic teachings and presence of Ven Sangye Khadro, she absolutely radiates kindness, joy and sharp intellect

The interested and motivated crowd who attended, many of whom were new to meditation and Buddhism

Having a chance to sit in stillness with so many other meditators

Meeting other new dharma students and centre volunteers

Seeing the thirst for knowledge that so many people had, and consequently selling lots of great Dharma books and giving away lots of the free texts

Jacko, the beautiful dog that one of the students rescued from wandering on the busy main road, and who came and sat with us while we waited for his owners to come and collect him

All in all a great weekend.

Volunteering

The next few days are all about a flurry of volunteering. Today I'm off to do some more cleaning at the Buddhist centre, where I'm now the centre care co-ordinator. This isn't as onerous as it might sound; I do some cleaning, chat with the lovely office staff, and get a sense of having helped keep the centre running smoothly.

Tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday I'm volunteering as a facilitator for a 'How To Meditate' workshop to be taught by Ven. Sangye Khadro (Kathleen MacDonald). (Here's an example of one of her meditations.) As a volunteer I get to attend the course, which I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford at the moment. I actually offered to help out without realising that I could attend, so it turned into a win-win situation! I'm really looking forward to attending this as her book is a favourite of mine and one of the texts used in the course I'm doing.

Good times!

Truth In Advertising?

I saw this amusing sign yesterday, just a few doors up from the house where I snapped the hibiscus below. Given that Photo Friday's theme for this week is 'Signs' I might just go ahead and enter it, for tomorrow they'll be moving on to a new theme.


House sign, Newtown. 19th January, 2005.

Gorgeous

I saw this huge hibiscus flower peeping over a neighbour's fence yesterday. I love hibiscus flowers, and their extravagant beauty. They are truly some of the biggest show offs of the flower world.


Beautiful yellow hibiscus. 19th January, 2005.

Decorative Tiles

Most of the narrow back streets of my suburb of Newtown are lined with small single story cottages, or two story terrace houses. Many of these date from the time of Queen Victoria and the 'Arts & Crafts' era, and are rich in decorative detail. Fortunately, many of the homes escaped 'modernisation' during the 60's and 70's when Newtown was a comparatively down-at-heel inner city area, and since the 80's and onwards the suburb started to go through a renewal and many of the home owners kept the original details intact.


Decorative tiled panel, Newtown cottage. 18th January, 2005.

In particular I love these decorative tile panels that are frequently found on the front of these homes, like this one they are often used as a panel between the two front windows. Sometimes the same sorts of tiles are use to line the front edges of steps also.


Decorative tile detail. 18th January, 2005.

These tiles are some of my favourites, and I especially like their slightly quasi-Medieval style. To me the tile above seems to refer to the Medieval 'mille fleurs' often seen in illuminated manuscripts or the backgrounds of tapestries, such as the famous Lady & The Unicorn tapestries, where small clumps of flowers and leaves dot the background.


Decorative tile detail. 18th January, 2005.

These tiles are in great repair, unfortunately the same can't be said for all of them. Quite a few have been removed, or even worse painted over. A house in the next street over from me, which is now derelict, had bas-relief decorative tiles which at some point have been painted over in very 80's looking pastel coloured paints. Fortunately though, there are still good examples like these.