Big Brother Seven

Oh dear another year seems to have slipped by. Can it really be BB7? I remember way back when being in Dublin training and having BB1 or was it BB2 streaming on the main screen. It doesn’t seem that long ago.

This year it looks like the producers have just decided to fill the house with gay boys and be done with it. Well Okay gay boys and closet boys about to come out the closet. I mean who does the ‘lifeguard’ think he is kidding?

Adam at work is penning his thoughts – better him than me. I’ll tune in when something starts to happen :o)

Sydney Mardi Gras 2004

united grrrr
san fran airport grrrr
red carpet lounge reasonable
stupid us customs and immigration even though i was only in transit grrrr
okay so I arrived late and have vowed never to fly united ever again. seriously it’s no wonder they are in chapter 11 bancruptcy protection.
i had of course forgotten to send jo the flight details and so she was waiting folornly at sydney airport for me having taken her morning conference call on her mobile. bless did I ever mention I loved that girl? she’s a star.
We nipped back to Balmain for a quick brunch (although quite what meal it would be for me i’m not really sure) at Jo’s favourite local cafe and i was lusting after the cook/server immediately. welcome to sydney :o)
Whilst Jo rushed to work to catch up on the morning i had made her miss i pottered around Balmain and acclimatised to the sudden onset of summer (although Jo and Michelle kept telling me it had cooled down)
That evening we headed out for food and drinks with Jo’s work mates before heading into town and started where I left off last year at Crown and Oxford for drinks at the Colombian. I really do think it’s my favourite bar, it’s friendly and full of cute guys.
Jo had said she bet me $5 that I would pull within the first 24 hours sadly despite the horny guys I knew better as I had come less than single this year.
So I crashed and burned (jetlag) fairly soon afterwards and we headed back to Balmain for some much needed sleep in a lovely flat bed.
Saturday we hit bondi after a garage sale to get rid of a few extra sofa’s since the girls were moving to Darlinghurst the following weekend (yes to two blocks down from taylor square on the day of mardi gras).
So after some sun and fun in bondi we headed back for another meal out (i’m convinced no one eats in or cooks for themselves in oz) and then more drinks.
On the way back we stopped for pizza in paddington and realised we had completely forgotten about shop! damn so I had missed herb and the boys in drag for the second year in a row.
Sunday was the build up to harbour party (azure) and then after arriving at the party a bit of a blur of retro music including Celine Dion – I drove all night, Barry Manilow – Love is in the air and Randy Crawford – One day I’ll fly away. All very very surreal and yet we danced to all of them. Also bumped into Tony and the boys from last years harbour party but missed Bettina and Margi. All in all a very fun afternoon/evening marred only by the guys asking to borrow a crack pipe at the end of the evening – like do we look like we smoke crack? Next year we have decided just to hire a yaught and moor off the party like the other beautiful sydneysiders who had failed to get tickets had done.
So without any of the after parties or other fun of last year (fnar) we headed back to Balmain for some hard earned rest.
Monday I managed to wander around Balmain and do some mundane grocery shopping and the like, although it seems much more glam to be doing it in Balmain than Balham. Also a quick trip into town to ensure I remmebered the bus route for when the kiwi boys arrived.
Monday night was spent in front of the TV with popcorn and the Oscars. Noozleland sweeped the board and we were dreading the kiwi’s arrival by this point. When the nice australian man Adam Elliot won his and thanked his beautiful boyfriend Dan we all laughed heartily. It’s amazing the storm in some of the papers caused by that the following day. As Mr Elliot pointed out everyone else was thanking their wives and partners why should he be any different?
Tuesday was another trip into Sydney for relaxed shopping and coffees whilst trying to catch up with Gary from Christchurch who was over for a conference for the start of the week. Failing to catch up with him I returned to Balmain. A few cosmo’s later and Michelle and I were more than a little merry. By the time Jo got home we were watching ‘The Bill’ and giggling so we decided food would be a good idea and went for a meal in Balmain. Another bottle of wine later we were all more than merry and stopped for ice cream at Gelatisimo where the two boys behind the counter made a play for one (or all) of us we weren’t quite sure. Neither of them was over 18 though so none of us were that fussed.
Wednesday was the arrival of Dave from Wellington. So after a wander around town and a coffee or two we checked into the lovely Macquarie Hotel. Tanya the lovely lady from accommodation however had some bad news in that the wonders of internet bookings and real systems did not match up and we may not have a room for the entire period. Not good when I was trying to stay out of the girls way pending their move to Bourke Street. Still not to worry. We figured we could wing it with friends if we got really stuck.
Staying centrally meant we had plenty of time to wander up and down Oxford St and Pitt St without the hassle of a bus ride or train journey in.
So after meeting up with Dave we ended up at circular quay for a brief sunbathe and to soak up some of the view. You still can’t beat the view of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. It’s one of the best sights and most recognisable too.
Thursday was Pam Ann and the Imperial Having seen her on a tiny stage in the corner of the 2 Brewers it was quite a shock. She had an entire stage to herself and a group of dancing boys :o) She was also sponsored up to the preverbial hilt. We followed the show with a trip to The Imperial where the boys watched dodgy caberet in the back bar and I caught up with Bettina and Margy in the front bar.
Friday was… wagamama?
The day of Mardi Gras arrived and Gary and I wandered into town despite the rain. We headed over to Jo’s new pad to see the place. They were moving in so we helped a bit and dried off. Then wandered for beers to The Colombian. We made some new friends and got merry. A few beers later and we got frisky (but not as bad as last year. We went back to the hotel to get showered and changed before heading back up the road. Our new mates were shocked to see us back so soon – they expected us to be shagging or something 😉
Then we met the others at Daves cousins new pad conveniently located above Starbucks on Oxford St a few paces from our favourite bar! The rain was torrential but we ventured with others to the roof terrace to watch the parade every now and then instead of out the window. Talk about rain on the parade!
Back to the hotel for another change and then hailing a cab (you would think that was easy but oh no…) before the maddness that is Sydney Lesbian & Gay Mardi Gras.
More to come.

unrequited love


I went to see ‘The Fluffer‘ last night after seeing Adam and agreeing to take some photo’s and a very pleasant if somewhat unnerving chat about blogging, community and if there was anyone I wouldn’t want to read this blog .
The film was very funny and company was good too. Spence and Glenn, Colin & Dave [nice taste in A&F clothing]. I found myself laughing all the way through the film which was good – welcome light relief really – I like films with humour and drama.
Finally to end the evening it was a dash over to Retro Bar to grab a fleeting kiss off Blogger A and then home.
Glenn and I decided at the tube station that suited and booted guys are kinda cute – I miss not working in an environment where men are in suits. I mean I am glad I don’t have to wear one but I do like to see other people in them!
So anyways the chat with Adam came back to me so I decided since I may blog about said guy it was a good enough excuse to randomly take his picture. [Okay I didn’t really need an excuse he was cute] and then I thought about Simon‘s entry about people being in other peoples photographs – this was a definite case of tottycam though – it wasn’t a random person in the background. He was the focus of the shot but Glenn was there to make it slightly less obvious.
When I got home took Jack out for a wander too and came back and went online as I wasn’t tired – funny how my work day was a nightmare but my evening was just as hectic but much more pleasant.

Okay well here is an update from Sydney

Okay well here is a little update for you :o)
went to the Gulf Air offices today to see about changing my flight. Looks like if they can they will only be able to change the singapore – london not the sydney – singapore. So I will still be leaving sunny sydney on Tuesday night :o(
They are going to call me if they can change the flight. Looks like they have no availability though so I will keep my fingers crossed.
Went to Bondi again today and did the cliff walk around to Bronte via Tamarama [‘glamarama’ allegedly the gay beach] all the beaches were pretty empty. When I arrived at Taylor Square I discovered why – I have never seen Oxford Street so busy [okay so I have only been here a week but you know what I mean]. People where walking on the road as the sidewalk was too busy with people chatting, eating and shopping!
Met Adam and Rob – Adam is an internet friend of Spence -so brought some of that wierd unsure emotion all back.We had a really nice meal after some drinks at The Shift and then wandered back for more drinks – unfortunately by this stage the lines for all the bars were completely mad so we went to the little bar above the shift which is always quiet. Saw a man who was gorgeous and as usual didn’t make any move – must go to assertiveness lessons or something.
So all in all a really nice evening – came home kind of early as it is gonna be a busy one tomorrow . Bettina and Margy have vacated their room – well actualy gone to Bettina’s mums for the week end as they are not participating in MG this year. So they have sweetly offered me their room. These Oz girls are so nice. I mean really nice ina genuine way.
Every morning of my stay in Sydney I have been picking a ‘tarot’ card from a pot along with the girls tomorrows is Action so I’ll interperet that in a number of ways
So off to bed in a minute or so when I have caught up on some blogs I have been missing out on and maybe a look at Spence‘s relaunch site and Dave B‘s site which I discovered in my referral logs. I may be in Oz and not on the internet much but I do chek my logs still!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS 2001 SYDNEY

*LONG UPDATE ALERT* (from Sydney)

*LONG UPDATE ALERT*
My eyes started to feel much better by Tuesday night so I put my glasses on and went into Oxford St to meet Brad and the gang at The Albury to watch Pam Ann. Unfortunately the rest of sydney’s gay population seem to have had the same idea so there was already a line at 9pm and they where not letting anyone else in. So Brad and I decided to go for drinks in the bar next door – soon it too was packed and we went for a wander with the others in search of pizza.
Brad gave me a lift back to Redfern where I am staying which was nice – he really is much better off now he has moved back to Oz than he ever was in London.
Wednesday was mostly a shopping day – with an outfit to find for the Mardi Gras float we trolled up and down Oxford Street. We had already seen some trousers in Daily Male which are a bit sparkly [and very silver] but had to go check out the competition. An awful lot of the shops look like all they seel is outfits for Mardi Gras – either that or the Sydney scene is normally much camper than the London scene
After all that shopping we ended up at Cafe Comity for a well earned rest and drink – this country is so civilised – not quite so much as Singapore but…
In order that we did not spend the entire day shopping I dragged scally up the AMP Centrepoint Tower for some tourist sight seeing – he is too wuss to do the harbour bridge walk with me :o( something about being scared of heights. So as part of our centrepoint ticket – bearing in mind all we anted to do was go up and have a look at Sydney we got a ‘skytour’ thrown in. Talk about tourist trap aghhhhh. Okay so how many little films can you watch about australian history before you become tempted to throw yourself off the tower – should you ever make it up there.
We wandered around this ‘guided’ tour for what seemed like hours before we finally made it up the tower itself. The views though where well worth it – and I recommend anyone visiting makes a trip up. Sort of like the twin trade towers or the empire state in New York really.
Wednesday night was Barbeque night *lol* no really though Bettina, Linda and Margy had the barbie all fired up and raring to go – the steak was fantastic and the beers went down a treat too. Ice Poles for desert and hey presto I could have been a local [except when I went to the bottle shop for beers he automatically handed me Fosters]
Thursday was one of those mornings – well actually it stretched into the afternoon but in general we all sat and watched trashy daytime TV [which is as bad in Oz as anywhere else] and then watched the channel seven daytime movie – really trashy one about a ranger searching for some lost kid with the woman from terminator showing as little acting skill as possible yet again. Scarily it had the same terminatoresque voice overs too.
Okay so then we spray painted the $13 trainers silver to match the sparkly trousers and went off to do some more touristy stuff! I dragged scally to the Opera House which was looking a bit jaded actually. Looks fantastic from afar but when you get up close it reminds me of the Civic Centre where I grew up in Crosby. You know the sort of thing a concrete communal space with a concert hal and library with unfinished concrete walls and stairwells and dark wooden finishings here and there for effect. Allegedly the Opera House is due for a refurbishment which will be good. I never realised though that the entire thing is tiled!
So a bit more shopping followed this tourist extravaganza and we picked up a sparkly black shirt to go with the sparkly silver trousers. Oh and lots of body glitter and a couple of stetsons. In for a penny and al that! Oh and then suprise suprise it was time for yet another party. Thursday night being the Arrivals Party – a good excuse to get all the foreigners in one place. We met up at the Oxford first and then went to flag a taxi to Fox studios [seems to be the place to have all your Lesbian & Gay events] were we met Daniel a rather nice American whom we chatted to for most of the evening. The music was pants but that didn’t stop me having fun and it was after 4am before I knew it – so staggered back home around 5am this morning.
Off now into town to go and see if I can change my flights and stop over in Singapore for a couple of days on my way back – my neice is missing me already!
Also caught up with a few people today – chatted with Adam a friend of Spencer’s whom I am meeting tonight for a meal with his partner and also Jo my friend who moved out here recently and chatted to Andre who works for AOL out here – I realy want a job out here [No Sheena I am not joking]. So erm the next update will no doubt be after the parade and party so Happy Mardi Gras 2001 and look out for the Albion Street Centre 2001 a safe sex oddessey float and the two sparkly english boys handing out packs of condoms and lube 😉
*/LONG UPDATE ALERT*