Messy

I took yesterday off work, after a spectacularly craptastic night of tossing and turning, and about only 5 hours sleep, when the alarm went off I woke up with a pounding headache and the thought DO. NOT. WANT. So I took the day off, tried napping (unsuccessfully), went out for a walk and bought some lunch and a cheap DVD, puttered around the house, and then watched the movie I bought Latter Days. It's a lovely little film, the two lead boys are absolutely adorable (even if Steve Sandvoss's acting is a bit creaky in parts) and it dishes a huge serve of 'screw you' to religious intolerance of gays.

Here's a hint. You know you're over-tired (and possibly having a psuedo-science Biorhythmic 'triple critical') when you're sitting on the couch, eating a chocolate bar and getting teary over a film about two boys in love.

Steve Sandvoss (L) and Wes Ramsey (R) get nekkid... and I have absolutely no problem with that.

Anyhoo, back at work this am. I got marginally more sleep last night (and whoooo boy boy am I looking forward to checking into hospital in 10 days time to have my sleep problems assessed). I still have a cracker of a headache, but no tears today. I could use a chocolate bar though...

[Updated: OK, so I added a completely gratuitous picture of the two boys from "Latter Days" nekkid. Got your attention now? :) Not that I'm calling you shallow or anything.]

The Three Graces

...or the Unholy Trinity?





I can never remember if it's supposed to be good things, or bad things, that come in threes?

Small Things, Small Minds Etc

I just learnt how to write "♥". I can't even begin to tell you how exciting it is. In fact, I ♥ it. w♥♥t!

Unbreak my ♥! I lost my ♥ in San Francisco! My ♥ belongs to Daddy!

As you were.

Flame Wars

I have never really hung out much on bulletin boards or chatrooms, I guess the closest I have come to it in my net experience is blog commenting and hanging out a bit on Flickr. I don't do the whole facebook thing, or really even post comments on Flickr very much anymore. But of late I have spending quite a bit of time on the knitting social networking/database website Ravelry (still in beta testing and with over 100,000 users, but not yet open to the public).

One of the really active parts of Ravelry are the Discussion Threads in the groups.

Oh my gah.

I've discovered the art of the Flame War. You'd think knitting, that's like really genteel right? Wrong. 99% of the threads are great, and there is a group I love called "Completely Pointless and Arbitrary" where any seriousness is actively discouraged, but the other 1% is amazing. Stuff that makes you want to bang your head on the desk in frustration (or theirs). Threads that started about poor customer service from on-line sellers for example, that degenerate into name calling, legal threats, accusations of bad parenting/poor personal hygiene and even cheap shots about religion.

It's kind of horrible, and I can't stand to read much of it, but it's hard not to. Some of it is so amazingly stupid it makes me sit here with my mouth open. I know this is nothing new to people who frequently read bulletin boards, and it really is only a tiny % of Ravelry, but it's kind of like a train wreck I can't drag my eyes away from.

Of course I've been smart enough not to add to these particular discussions. I don't want anyone attacking my personal hygiene.

Australian Fashion Week

Failed to meet expectations this year.

Detritus

The building I work in is around 98% women, and we few guys that are here share a common toilet that is located just outside my office. It has a sort of vestibule area, and even a long disused shower stall in there, and on account of our low numbers and poor bargaining power, the vestibule and shower stall have become the Junk Depository. (I nearly wrote Crap Depository, but then thought better of it.) Going to the mensroom usually involves dodging your way around broken wheelchairs, a couple of commode chairs, a carton of incontinence underwear, a walker, and other sundry bits of equipment suitable for aged care.

If you ever needed a reminder that one day you too will be old, frail and incontinent, then come visit me and go for a pee while you're here.

So today they had a big cleanout. Initially that meant that everything from the mensroom just migrated into the hallway, but now another service has come along and taken all the equipment that is useable, and the rest has gone down to the skip. For a short while there our corridor looked like a substandard nursing home. Our walls are Public Institution Green, so it was pretty convincing. All we needed is a smell of boiled cabbage and something even less savoury underneath, and it would have been a dead ringer.

Anyhoo, now I can pee and not worry about a future of prostate enlargement and moist underpants. Huzzah!

Cat Yodelling!

Web-Goddess posted a link to this clip called An Engineer's Guide To Cats. It's really funny, but stick with it until a couple of minutes before the end because the 'corporal cuddling' and 'cat yodelling' segment is hysterical!

Vintage Handsomeness

A couple of dishy vintage chaps, courtesy of Shorpy.

Hobart 'Hobey' Baker, 1913. Nice pecs are always in style.

Tickle my ivories Mr Piano Man, 1938.

5 Thoughts For Monday, April 28th.

• I passed a discarded bunch of 3 long stemmed pink roses this morning. Wilted, and still in their acetate wrapper and ribbon. Jilted lover? Apology gone bad? Apology never made? Break-up? What do you think?
  
• Mmmmmm, coffee this morning was (again) followed by mmmmmm, cute redhead. I'm glad he's still around, because I hadn't seen him buying his morning coffee for a while.
  
• Like, OMG, the grand finale of "So You Think You Can Dance" was so excellent last night. My two favourite boys were in the final duo, so I was happy that either of them won. Yay Jack!
  
• And while I'm still like all OMG and everything, the opening sequence was brilliant! Not only did it include all of the top 20 (so they think they can) dancers, but all of the judges and the key choreographers from the season too. Cute idea, and fun to see the judges busting some moves.
  
• We had a huge turnout for knitting at the pub yesterday, including a bunch of newbies. At one point I had a somewhat bizarre conversation with an American guy that came up to chat to us. First off, "Are you guys knitting because you've given up smoking or something?" Um, no. Because a) we like doing it, b) it's kind of meditative and relaxing and c) because you can make cool stuff. Then he turned his gaze on me and started talking about guys knitting, and shared the gem that in the past when he has "read guys' profiles" and they stated that they liked knitting he had been all "um, okay" (the 'you weirdo' was implied). Then he went on to say he thought it was cool. Um, okay. Thanks. (My 'you weirdo' was implied.)

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

I had the most weird ass collection of vivid dreams last night. I've mentioned this a bunch of time before, but normally I wake up without ever having a sense of having dreampt during the night. Zip. Nada. So it's all the more startling to me when I wake up during a big technicolour widescreen experience of a dream. I don't know what was going on but last night I had a bunch of them. This morning I was like what the fuh was THAT all about? And it's not like I was doing mescalin right before bedtime or anything...

At risk of sounding (more) like a freak, here's just a couple of examples:

• Cate Blanchett and her husband apparently own a whole block of property in a small town somewhere here in Oz, but what makes this collection of property special is that it's all been preserved in mint 1930s/1940s condition. Facades, interiors, the works. Somehow that segued into sitting in a (likewise vintage) hall, watching a show which was a collection of amateur skits and songs. Sort of like the 'gang shows' that the boys scouts used to do when I was a kid, crossed with the skill level of "Red Faces" (non-Australians think "The Gong Show"). Which was all well and good, and quite entertaining, until a rat bit me on the hand and I woke up with a start. (Note: I don't have a problem with rats, I used to have a pet one at school, but the biting part I did have a problem with apparently.)

And can I just say, Cate really should get that vermin issue dealt with, don't you think? I mean we're talking public health and safety here. Could I sue?

• If you happen to find yourself on a spaceship, one which is pulling up to an alien space station, it's advisable not to try and dock right near where all their hydroponic food is grown, because feeling like their food source is under threat will really piss them off. (I know, WTF? I have no idea either.) So pissed off in fact that they will lock you all into a room which looks like suspiciously like a regular 21st century public bathroom. But it's ok because you will escape into the ceiling by lifting the ceiling tiles, and climbing into the dropped ceiling crawlspace. Where to from there is a good question, because at that point you will wake up.

Sometimes I am just plain weird.

Waterlogged

Thank you Jebus! After 13 long days the rain has finally ended, and today the sun has come out. My poor courtyard garden is looking sodden and waterlogged. Weeds gone crazy after the first really good rain in a long time. This morning I hung out my first load of washing on the line in nearly two weeks, and I noticed everything out there looked a bit droopy and beaten down, the stone pavers still not dried out from the onslaught.

Aside from some knitting at cafe Barmuda this afternoon, the agenda is definately to get out there and enjoy the sunny day!

Does The "End Time" Start With Another Flood?

OMG chickens, it's after 4.30 in the afternoon and this is pretty much the first time I have stopped and taken a breath all day. Oh sure, it's meant the day has gone fast, but given my usual slacker ways it's sure been a shock to the system. (Thankfully a less hateful day than yesterday though, or as I now like to think of it The Day I Nearly Told My Boss To Go Screw Himself, And The Horse He Rode In On). I'm pleased with how much I managed to get done today, even if it meant sacrificing Das Internetz to achieve it.

Tomorrow is a holiday to commemorate ANZAC Day. (Go and have a look at the ANZAC story, it's a powerful and moving story and this blog post is way too frivolous to do it justice.) Three day weekend! Yay! Today is the 12th day straight of solid rain here in Sydney, but so far the weekend forecast has a couple of mild sunny days on the schedule. I sure hope so, drought breaking is good etc but give me the Autumn sunshine!

Tonight I'm having a quiet night in with some knitting (yes, another pair of mittens - it's an addiction, I swear) and a guy called Dexter. I've had a gift certificate burning a whole in my pocket, so when I passed a CD/DVD store on Tuesday afternoon I used it to buy the season 1 box set. I've only watched the first 3 episodes so far, but Michael C Hall you are a genius. Sexy and disturbing.

It's not even 5 o'clock in the afternoon yet and it looks like night outside already. Again the rain is thundering down. Sounds like a good night for a quiet night in with a serial killer.

Rantalicious

I had a day in a training course yesterday, and so it was kind of nice to be away from the office for a day. Except, since walking into the office this morning it has been one damn annoyance after another. Both phone lines ringing off the hook, accusations that I haven't done something (something that, as it turns out, I wasn't asked to do in the first place), people hovering around waiting to ask me questions while I'm talking on the phone.

Gah. One of those days.

I got so shitty a little while ago that I came ::puts fingers together:: this close to just impulsively quitting this job. Telling them to shove it. It's official, I do not want to be here. I need to reign it in though because realistically I'm in a bind. Double rent, medical bills and other bills mean that I cannot afford to give up this regular income.

Just breathe. Think of the happy place. Puppies. Kittens. Hugh Jackman in a pair of speedos.

And while I'm ranting, this is the 11th straight day of rain here in Sydney and I'm kind of over it.

That is all. So anyway, how are are you?

Colour Me Guilty

Our handsome and talented friend Mr John C kindly pointed us in the direction of Guilty Kilts. While not helping cure us of our Kilt Addiction at all, it sure has provided some more Aye Candy. To whit:







Mmmmmm. Nom nom nom.

Wintery Weekend

Weekend recap time! Gone are the posts of I didn't do much but knit, this weekend was choc-a-block.

Saturday I futzed around the house a bit, and then in the afternoon (as it poured with rain) I plugged in my vcr and dug out the tapes of Stonewall and Parting Glances. (I was curious to watch Parting Glances again, after having just written about it the other day.) Oh, and of course I did do some knitting while I was watching the movies. The Devil makes work for idle hands you know!

Then on Saturday night I went a housewarming/birthday combined party at my friend Andrew's house, and dragged James along for the ride. It was a fun party. I stopped drinking alcohol some weeks back when I found out that I was having liver problems, so with the exception of one light beer at the pub beforehand, it was a dry night. I had a good time, and I met a really interesting and eclectic bunch of people. I don't miss drinking alcohol because I've never really been much of a drinker, but I do sort of miss the inhibition lowering aspect of it. I can feel a bit shy with people in a setting like a party, although everyone was really friendly and interesting, and I had an amazing chat with one young guy who has just started the process of recovery from alcoholism.

Sunday late morning I went to a birthday party for my friend Speedy's (aka "World Peace & A Speedboat) son. Cupcakes, kids underfoot, friends, and (importantly) party hats:

Beware the Natashasaurus!

Then on Sunday afternoon I spent a lovely 4 hours or so with my good friend Stephen who was visiting from Queensland. A bite to eat, some wandering around Newtown, a couple of drinks at the pub (non-alcoholic for me) and most importantly, catching up with each other. It was lovely!

So that's my weekend. It poured with rain for most of it, but even though it was cold and wet outside, it was a warm weekend of friendship and hanging out with new friends and old.

Aye Candy

Men in kilts, I think the images speak for themselves.

Hamish Clark, cute as a button Scottish actor from "Monarch Of The Glenn"


Nathan Fillion + leather kilt = HOT. (But the socks need some work.)

More celeb shots from kiltmen.com

[Updated: Ooops, just have to add one more, because hello sexy:]

Please Tell Me I Did Not Just Do That

So, I've had a really busy day at work and I've been training a staff member on how to use one of our software packages. I've been sitting with her while she learns each stage of the process, then leaving her to go and do the data entry until she's ready for the next step.

About 5 minutes ago I was sitting with her while she was doing the data entry, and I was sort of absentmindedly rubbing the skin of my neck under my shirt collar. I don't know what I was thinking about.

la-la-la men-in-kilts la-la-la what'll-I-have-for-dinner? la-la-la what's-that-little-bump? la-la-la.

Yup, while I was training her, and not particularly paying attention... I casually squeezed a zit on the back of my neck.

Ewwww. For everyone concerned.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure

This sort of works, just replace the word "Jar" with "Penis".





[Via Vintage Ads.]

You Know What?

If you shut your eyes and listen to Madonna & Justin Timberlake's new song "Four Minutes"... it sounds like a Michael Jackson song.

That is all, as you were.

Another Glance

Ah this makes me happy!

I was Googling the names of some actors I admire but haven't heard of in years, and whilst Googling "John Bolger" I came across this July 2007 article in The Advocate. About the The Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation, which in partnership with the UCLA Film and Television Archive is restoring 'classic' glbt films and tv.

Years and years ago (gah, nearly 20 years ago!) I saw a film which had quite a big impact on me, "Parting Glances". The film was made in 1986 and I saw it at a film festival shortly after I moved to Sydney, which would place it sometime in late 1989. I still remember it, I went with some friends that included a guy called Peter that I had a huge crush on and it was showing at the lovely Hayden Orpheum.

But I digress. The thing I loved about "Parting Glances" then, and now, is that it isn't a coming out story. One of the problems I think a lot of glbt fiction and movies have had historically is that they get mired down in trying to prove that we are just as good as everyone else. Don't get me wrong, coming out stories are important and have their place, but so do stories that move past that point to represent our lives after. (I think that's why Armistead Maupin's "Tales Of The City" stories were so appealing to many people, the characters have moved beyond that point to the lives they have constructed, with all the friends, family, joy, and problems that entails.) Understandably a lot of glbt fiction and movies in the 80s were reactions to the times, to AIDS, to increased homophobia, to fear and ignorance.

But "Parting Glances" took a smaller focus and represented a group of people that were more like the experience of myself and my friends. The film is set in a 24 hour time frame, the last 24 hours that two lovers Michael and Robert are spending together before Robert leaves for an overseas work posting. Their relationship has become a little predictable, and it isn't clear if they are staying together or seperating. Michael also has some unresolved feelings for an ex, a musician living with AIDS (Steve Buscemi's in his first film role). Much of the action of the film takes place at a party, where a bunch of interconnecting and overlapping stories centered around Robert and Michael collide.

I have a poor quality video of the movie that I have watched a bunch of times, which I recorded when the film was shown on tv here in the 90s. Even then the image was pretty poor, having been made on 16mm and blown up to 35mm. So I was pleased to read that last year $88,000 was spent on tracking down footage (no good quality print of the original cinema release existed anymore) and restoring the film. Late last year it was rereleased in a limited run, and then best of all a DVD was released! YAY!



I was also pleased to see pics of the cast reunited for the rerelease. Handsome John Bolger has gone on to have a long career in films and tv, especially daytime soapies. Richard Ganoung has done lots of theatre, and appeared in another glbt themed film "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss". Kathy Kinney is best known as Mimi from "The Drew Carey Show", and Steve Buscemi has gone on to make lots of other movies.



I'm glad the film hasn't been lost and allowed to deteriorate to dust. I haven't watched it in quite some years, and I do remember that some of the performances were a little shakey, but I think it's a pretty good film and a very interesting snapshot of the mid 80s. Plus, the nostaglia aspect. It takes me back to my twenties just thinking about it. Which is a good thing.

Oh, and I had a major crush on the hunky John Bolger (as 'Robert') back then. He's aged pretty well, and here is a totally gratuitous shot of him in a kilt:



You know, just because.

[Here's an article about the film's rerelease from The Daily Page]