Oh my... a new post after so, so, so long. Yes, special occasions now, folks. Otherwise I just never get around to doing it.
And you may well ask what the special occasion is this time around. I'll tell you - it's Mardi Gras!
I know it is a big statement, however this year's Mardi Gras has to be the best that i've enjoyed for at least a decade. It wasn't just the party (and it certainly wasn't the parade; someone needs to shorten that thing!) however it was the combination of many things, including catching up with several old friends, meeting a handful of new ones and just a great vibe all round.
We arrived on Thursday, checked into our cell that was apparently a hotel room and did some shopping down the street. We spent far too much at Priceline which was the first obviously gay act that we did. I mean, come on... more than $50 on toiletries is a tad excessive yet it somehow happened. This didn't include any fragrances either... that was yet to come.
Thursday...
We began our Thursday evening by catching up with our wonderful friend David for dinner. David took us to this fantastic pub on Crown St a few blocks from where we were staying. You walked into this modern pub and they have this entire wall that forms a giant book case - it just looks very grand. We had a quick bite there, a couple of drinks and chatted away about what David had heard about this years party and life in general.
From there, Ant and I picked ourselves up and walked on down to the Cleverland Hotel for drinks with the lovely Kylie Martin and Luke Nutley who I had worked with years before at FMR. Now... putting this into context, people in the music industry work so closely together and for so many hours that you can't help but form a family like bond with these people. I hadn't seen Luke properly in years and Kylie is always so busy that to get an evening with both of them and to just have a few drinks was wonderful.
Whilst at the Cleverland, there was this woman dressed in a crushed velvet red dress doing a photoshoot. I'm not entirely sure what it is that she was selling however she kept doing this look down her nose and hand motions that would indicate it was some kind of card dealer thingy although I suspect if I got a full house, the crushed velvet dress may just have dropped to the floor. It was all rather creepy actually as her make up person kept touching her even while they were taking pictures and the camera equipment that the rather old photographer was using looked like he grabbed it as a free gift from the bottom of his packet of wheaties. We thought we could do better than them and started doing our own photoshoot which resulted in some rather... interesting... shots of Luke. Luke has made Kylie and I promise not to show these to anyone however i'm pretty sure they're already on Kylie's Facebook page...
Some how, going against my original wishes of a quiet evening at the hotel, Luke had talked Ant and I into a drink or two down the Shift and so we raced home, got changed and headed around. However, I just couldn't really get into the mood and wasn't feeling that suitably dressed although we had started to run into some fellow Melburnians and so the tequila shots began! Having said all that, Ant and I made our escape and were in bed by 2am.
Friday...
Day time is boring... we bought fragrance at some fragrance store on Oxford St (after much debating by Ant and I) - probably something more at Priceline - and not much else. Ant was trying to find an outfit for Mardi Gras and decided that he was going to go this year as a lifeguard. After much searching around, we actually found lifesaver shorts and a cap at Bang in Sydney thanks to the help of owner Dean.
However, that night we did go to a friend of Ant's place for drinks. Now, we all knew that Rob was fairly well off however we're talking about a penthouse on the 19th floor of a rather luxurious building in Potts Point here. No understatement - the view from his balcony has to be the best view of Sydney Harbour I have ever, ever seen. I wish I had a video camera there and had to make do with my mobile phone camera (which just won't do it justice) however when you looked to the left, you looked down upon the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. In front of us we had that little island that I always thought was some kind of Alcatraz however it turned out to be a restaurant. Over to the right, you can see the heads and looking out towards Manly. It's the first time i've ever been able to see a clear, complete view of the entire harbour from one location and it was breath taking. Rob was the perfect host - expensive champagne was poured out by the bottle full - a small but really lovely group of people - great conversation and, in all, something that we wouldn't have normally got from a Mardi Gras visit. In fact, most of the people there were from Melbourne (as Rob is most frequently) and we had all made plans to catch up once we returned. In fact, two people (Kim and Richard) were wanting to come and see the Mardi Gras parade so Ant arranged a time for us to meet them the following night so that we could enjoy it together.
Saturday...
Ant and I got up and had a delicious breakfast at the cafe downstairs, and was joined by our lovely friend Andrew Osbourne (who is a script writer for Home & Away so we always try to get all the gossip out of him). Ant and I then went window shopping down Oxford St so that I could find something to wear for the party that night. I had already decided on my army cargo shorts however I ended up finding a nice pollo neck shirt from Woosh and decided that this was going to make me look slim enough to handle the party with confidence!
Travis, who shared the hotel room with us arrived and Ant took him down the street whilst I (ahem) waited in the hotel room watching Doctor Who. There was only so much more window shopping I could cope with.
Around 7.00pm, we went down to Oxford St to find Kim and Richard armed with a handful of milk crates. I ran into my friend Scott Brennan whilst down there - much to my amazement, our new friend Kim turned around and pointed out that she knew his brother Peter and his friend Peter. "Not Peter Bousha?", I asked. "You know Peter Bousha?" she said back. Ok - small world people.
I do love the parade however I also think it is WAY too long now. Without getting too political on everyone, i'm also scared that the parade is going to become too commercial. Keep in mind that 30 years ago, a group of gays and lesbians protested in Kings Cross so that the gay and lesbian movement could have their rights recognised. 29 years later, Eclipse chewing gum and Ikea are in the Mardi Gras parade. Now, tell me - what is the relevance of chewing gum and flat packed furniture to the gay and lesbian movement? NOTHING, I tells ya. I was pleased to see no trace of chewing gum this year although Ikea was back. Be warned Mardi Gras - sell your space in the parade for advertising and people will turn off in droves - keep it relevant or you'll lose it all.
Best float had to be one of the more simplistic - featured three key dancers who were dancing in front of this amazing giant screen. The dancers in themselves were nothing special - they were fit, could dance and kept rhythm - excellent - however what impressed me the most was the actual screen they used. Up close, it just looked amazing and I noticed that the stage sets in the RHI also incorporated these screens too...
We had a couple of lovely Irish girls behind us who seemed to like to sing along to songs despite the obstacle of not knowing the words forever being present. I often broke into laughter with them as they sang such amazing classics as "Working 9 to 5, what a way to da da da da..."
We actually left before the parade ended. Anyone who has tried to stand on a milk crate with a handful of other people for a few hours will know what i'm talking about here. We went back to the hotel, started getting ready and made our way to the party. And thus one of the best parties began...
No queues when we arrived. I don't think I was even frisked. Just walked in.
Hard to believe there was 30,000 people there as I wasn't being pushed and shoved. In fact, I think I waited no more than 10 minutes to use a loo at any point during the night.
The RHI was just going off. I don't know if it was the fact it was the 30th birthday or not however the DJ's weren't taking it too seriously at all (which is a good thing.) They were mixing new tracks with old classics left, right and centre which meant that you could never really guess what might happen next and everyone just kept dancing because the music never got boring. I mean, when was the last time you went to a dance party and heard ABBA,70's disco Donna Summer or even Sylvesters 'You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)' playing loudly?
Even Hex Hector got into the mood with a bit of a 20 minute Whitney megamix... Oh dear! I'm sorry, but it was hysterical standing on a packed dancefloor hearing a room full of trashed queens singing the high pitched note in a dance mix of Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You'.
The central mirrorball was just amazing this year - not exactly a mirror ball but a revolving cascade of glass - with the lights hitting it, it just looked AMAZING.
The shows were good too - Olivia got a very strong crowd reaction...
and by the time Cyndi Lauper came on at 8am, it was clearly obvious that this had been one of the best Mardi Gras parties ever.
I didn't get to see Kent and Sandro as I wanted to - in the end, it sounded like there were dancing not too far from where we had based ourselves too. However, I did get to spend a little bit of time towards the end with David/Margeaux and a few of his friends too, as well as spending time with Dale, Matt, Simon, Stuart, Shane, Scott, Anthony, Scotty, Daniel, Rob, Andrew, Kevin, Travis, Paul, David, Ian and of course Ant... and the list just keeps going on and on! I guess in those big party settings, you can only hope to run into each other and if you do happen to lose each other, hope you're popular enough to run into someone else you do know!
As we were leaving at 8am in the morning, we walked past a lone camera crew standing in the middle of the park. As Ant was wearing his lifeguard outfit (which is skimpy at best), I strolled past loudly proclaiming, "Oh, I know what you're focusing that thing on right now..." As it turns out, head to http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/ and type Mardi Gras into the search options on the right - play the story that goes just a little longer than 2 minutes and you'll catch a glimpse of Ant and I at the start as we left the next morning (Ant covering his nipples...!!!... and me walking just a little ahead).
...(ahem)... Sunday
We then decided that we would head on to the Midnight Shift, where I sms'd the world to see if anyone cared to join us. Young Scotty Brennan joined us again, as he was just walking past the Shift when he got my message and had time to kill before the Toybox Party a few hours later. I explained to him that it was actually really nice to spend some quality time with him, especially since he is someone from my past that I have a soft spot for as he reminds me of a more innocent time. I did also explain to him that my mother absolutely loves one of his sketches...
We stayed there until the afternoon and then decided (wisely) that we should go home and get some sleep.
Surprise, Ant wanted to go out that night, so we left the hotel around 11pm and went to Stonewall, the Oxford and then finished up at the Columbian where we were until around 8am! We had run into our friend Alan and his partner Kevin when we were at the Stonewall and ended up spending the night with them (and their hysterical friend Geoff who Alan used to live with in Sydney). As Geoff lived a few doors from where we stayed, we all walked home together and spent a fair amount of time laughing - Geoff was too funny...
Monday
More sleep... then Ant wanted to go out again (can you see a pattern here)... so we went back to Stonewall for one drink and then over to the Columbian. Now, this place was jumping at 3pm on a Monday afternoon although I was well and truly over club land by then. I had invited my friend Shane down for a drink and so we sat in the corner chatting away, eventually leaving Ant and Travis to the Columbian whilst we went around the corner to one of my favourite little Thai places. Once I saw Shane off, I went back to the Columbian and rounded up a resistent Travis and Ant who wanted to stay on... until I pointed out that it was nearly 11.30pm and we had a plane to catch early in the morning...
Tuesday
Getting up, we enjoyed another breakfast at Room Nine which was the cafe in the hotel where we stayed, and then got our things together to head to the airport. Poor Travis had a 4pm flight that day (and Kelly Clarkson that night) so he was off to the cinema to kill time. Ant and I arrived back at the airport, running into our DJ friend David Virgonia so it was nice to be able to chat with someone before we boarded our plane.
...And then came the depression of being back home in Melbourne after such a fantastic holiday. Thank you to all my fabulous friends in Sydney and from Melbourne who ensured that we all had a wonderful time. I do hate how I reach a point where I say "this will be my last Mardi Gras for a while" and then Mardi Gras turns around and delivers a magnificent party! So, yes, Ant and I are already talking about doing MG09. However, for the time being, i'll get over this post party flu that i've caught and get myself ready for work again next week.
Don't fall over in shock because there is another update within a six month period... ok? It's just, for once, I guess there is something to write about. Believe it or not however it has been a pretty social period for Ant and I lately. In fact, i've been able to get Ant to go out - on a school night no less - till 9.30pm! In all fairness to Ant, he does get up at something like 4.30am every morning for work and he works HARD, so I can't truly blame him for coming home from work and just wanting to shut the world out.
We went to the JOY FM Volume 5 CD launch on Thursday night at the Xchange which was fun - and great to see them supporting so many local pop artists, such as Emaar, Johnny X, Route 33 feat Costa and Cosima, who did an outstanding job. They also had a personal favourite of Ant and mine performing; Supagirly! She is just too funny! I also caught up with my friend Paul Brandoli who some of you will recall was from a band called Culture Shock in the 90's before moving on to a group called Eclipse and then, over a coffee and discussion on Radiohead at the start of the decade, Paul told me how he was too old to do pop anymore (*cough* bullshit) and that he would just write and produce - which he does well - however I always knew there was more of a performer left in him. Anyway, the other night he was telling me that he was going to go back to performing live at the start of next year so it will be truly great to see him perform once again.
Last night we went to see the new Kylie film 'White Diamond'. I was actually rather surprised by it, expecting it to be another usual light and fluffy doco; which it was - however what surprised me was my own personal reaction to it. I found myself getting rather emotional during most of it - even a little teary - and it was almost a bittersweet kind of feeling. I guess, as she has used many of the same people over the years, seeing the familiar faces who were on the 'On a Night Like This' and 'Fever' tours brought back a lot of really great memories for me. I mean - record company people are never that necessary on tour. Kylie Martin, her Australian PR/Publicist definitely is however she fields calls (expect for the ones she gratefully put through to me on the 'On a Night Like This Tour' - that was a hoot!) however the rest of the time was generally spent just being there, 'showing support' because that is what the record company people do.
In fact, I dare say that record company people on tours are a bit of a nuaisance to the touring party. They just stand there, get in the way, drink all the grog back stage and then piss off home. However, I have to be thankful that I got to experience what it was like during those tours and watching 'White Diamond' last night, there were just moments where I felt some of that flooding right back. There was one bit where we see 'the line up' next to the stage door beside the stage where tour personnel and VIP passes would stand and watch the show each night - watching Dannii bop away beside the stage while her sister was up there performing. I remember racing down five or so minutes before the show and grabbing a possey beside the stage and just looking up and seeing her perform effortlessly every night. She always made it look so easy. Even when she was really sick; I remember one night in Melbourne during the 'On a Night Like This' tour in Melbourne where she was so sick, a doctor gave her an injection between songs to keep her going. They actually modified her leather medley outfit that night to make it cooler for her and the outfit was so effective, the change was kept from then on.
I remember Terry looking at me amused when we were standing in the production office in Brisbane a day or two before the opening night of 'On a Night Like This' and my faced dropped when I realised they were rehearsing 'Did It Again' to put into the show... as short lived as it was! I remember the poor dancers on that tour having to put up with a drunk and flirty me at the post-first show party in Brisbane too... and Kylie asking me that night what my favourite part of the show was and me rambling about the medley cause it reminded me of "all the good times with my friends".
It's hard to explain and almost corny however the film managed to successfully remind me of some of the things I truly missed in my former life. However, it was a trip that I didn't mind exploring once again and I guess I thank her and Will Baker for that reminder.
After recently calling my friend David to wish him a happy birthday, he mentioned in a return call that he occasionally checked my blog and hoped that I would write again soon as it was often a good way for friends who I didn't speak to as much to keep in touch. Admittedly, i've been absolutely shocking with keeping my blog this year. I was saying to a friend of mine earlier tonight that it often came down to just feeling tired and afraid that my writing would seem to consist of nothing but complaints about working too hard and whatever... i'm sure you all know that existential rat race routine thing that goes on.
However, I will make an effort to start writing again... or at least when there is something interesting to say.
So... Ant and I hit four years a month or so back and only just enjoyed a romantic weekend away in Daylesford; the 'mineral water' region of Victoria. About 90 minutes from where we live, it is as country town as it gets although with a somewhat bent twist as it seems to be a favourite destination for many gays and lesbians. In fact, I don't think i've seen as many lesbians out and about in a while. And with that, I don't think i've seen so many dogs out and about! What is it with the queer community and their pets?
Anyway, we stayed at this fantastic B&B that just felt so 'home'. It wasn't terribly large - a kitchen, a bedroom that doubled as a lounge room, and a bathroom - however it was so well done. The bathroom was LARGE - including a 3 person spa bath. The bedroom was large too - with a king size bed, tv, dvd, stereo and an imitation style log fire. They had bread, milk, juice, champagne and bits and pieces there ready for us to eat and so Ant and I just relaxed, looked around, and made the most of our weekend.
We did catch a film that our hosts recommended to us whilst up there; 'Boy Culture'. If you get a chance to see it, do - it's very well written and I think remarkably insightful. I'm sure many gay men can identify with the characters in it although somewhat exaggerated. However, for an entertaining film with a rather yummy looking cast - it's worth grabbing a copy.
I should head to bed - I recently bought myself a 500gb hard drive and spend far too much time backing up my music. However, work lately has been extremely challenging and I do need a good amount of rest to make the most of it. However, I promise to write again soon.
I have to admit that I feel some resentment that, despite the site indicating otherwise, i've had to sign up to a Google email account in order to continue using this Blog service. Bottom line - not too sure how much longer I will continue to use this one since I do feel strangely funny about such pressuring.
Having said that... what is there to say lately? Mardi Gras and holidays have come and gone and i'm already a fortnight back at work and feeling much the same I did prior to going away.
Although I have to admit that i'm in a somewhat foul, hot and sticky mood this evening and that is not helping. If I continue writing right now, i'm likely to go on about how annoyed I am at getting a speeding fine for going 47 in a 40 zone at 12.30pm on a Saturday night when there was no one else around. Or about how frequently the bills seem to come in, or how the body corporate guardians seem entirely disinterested in the dripping sound coming from the roof although they're the first to admit that it is an issue they would need to take care of. Yo know what they actually told me? They've said to leave it until damage appears cause then they can do something about it and claim it on insurance. That's all well and good for them, but it is MY roof - and i'm still hot without air conditioning and Ant is still waiting for Foxtel... get it together!
Yes, it has been a while between drinks. Although, I sat down recently with a friend of mine I haven't seen in some weeks and he asked me what had been happening lately. I struggled to find an answer. Yes, even existentialists can go through periods where routine creeps back into their lives and numbs it a little although I can't honestly say life is bad lately. Perhaps, life is hidden in the smaller details at the moment?
So, let's look at some of those.
I'm on holidays now! YAY! Ant and I head up to Sydney for Mardi Gras although we have our lovely friend Sam house sitting our new apartment and, more importantly, the kids. I honestly didn't want to do Mardi Gras this year initially and that was mostly due to money which is, to say the least, tight. However, the tickets have been bought, the planes ready to board and the hotels booked so I might as well just make the most of it and enjoy it. I've been getting Ant into the mood lately by playing old Mardi Gras parade videos lately and clearly it has worked as he keeps asking to put them on!
We saw Scissor Sisters a few weeks back too, which was a great way to end my summer of live acts. Our friend Jimmy ran into Jake at The Market afterwards and SMS'd us but I couldn't be bothered getting up just to run the risk of racing to The Market to say a quick hello. Apparently Ana and Babydaddy were over at The Laird - seems they spread themselves out afterwards.
Work has been really full on lately but i'm still enjoying it, discovering my more managerial side. It only makes me feel more and more that this year is going to be as much about development as last year.
I did a presentation recently at Meta Melbourne about congruence and incongruence and how spotting your incongruent signal can be as beneficial as being fully congruent. For those that are confused, I suggest Googling most of that; it's all NLP and rather fascinating. If I can find it, i'll cut and paste my presentation here although the discussion that raged afterwards was far more indepth and intense. I do intend to delve further into NLP again this year, having felt that i've steered from it the past couple of months but still finding an appreciation for the calmness and focus it brought to me.
Lastly, musically, been really getting into Mika lately - you need to check this guy out if you've not heard of him. Absolutely amazing.
Last Friday saw a milestone that, personally for me, made it all real. I made my first loan repayment on the home loan. Sure, we may have paid a couple of thousand that would roughly translate to Ant and I owning about $2 of the home so far, but it was more about the fact that we could do it for me. I didn't doubt that we could do it; but to actually reach that first repayment felt good. Mind you, all the bloody bills lately are doing my head in. Telstra kindly sent me a $300 bill for last month, over three times the amount that it should be! This was down to a lot of work calls over that period (no landline) and the usual Christmas/NY calls and SMS. Eck!
Ant took me out on Saturday night for belated birthday drinks. As usual, we went to The Market with our friend Travis in tow (along with his friend Jay). There was a highlight or two along the night, apart from the DJ playing 'The Boss' again. Possibly one of my favourite moments of the night happened in the men's toilets (oh-er!... it's innocent). A tall gent was just about to leave the bathroom when he stood in the middle of the room to make an announcement.
"I just want to say something... (slurring and slightly out of it) Firstly, i'm really f*cked!... Secondly... i'm straight and... (getting emotion) i'm sorry for any time that i've used the term gay in a derogatory sense... i'm having one of the best nights of my life and I love you guys..."
...and then swanned out of the loo.
If only more straight guys could have a moment of revelation like that. What I do love is the fact that you really got the impression he had seen the light and realised that the gay community are actually a friendly bunch who only ask for respect and, in turn, will give respect (and a bloody good night out) back.
We did have another rather out of it guy (seemed to be a reoccuring theme) stumble up to Ant and I at one point, noticing that we were holding hands and asking for "Proof of boy on... (slur) boys on..." Me: "Boysenberry?" Him: "Boy on boy photos". Me: "Sorry, don't have them..." (getting up) "Yet..." (wink and walked off).
Happy birthday to me... happy birthday to me... happy birthday dear me-e... happy birthday to me!
Yep, another year older and, with each passing year, more of a feeling of indifference.
Not apathy though. I did explain to a friend recently that I am so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends who make every day feel like my birthday. As a result, birthdays are a nice excuse to spend time with people you love but who needs an excuse for that anymore.
I do have to say that I am thrilled with how many people dropped a line this year. Generally, a small handful - but this year, it has felt like i've had at least a couple of handfuls! :p Family... friends... even pop stars... birthday wishes all round... I love it! Especially on Myspace (www.myspace.com/lawrenceakers) which seems to be the new and easiest way to drop a line although still equally as genuine. So, to everyone who did - thank you!
I've been asked by a few people about 'the ghost' and what's happening there. If the truth be known, we had a medium over recently who told us that it was an eight year old boy (Sid had thought about ten years old when he came over) and his name was Robert James - although not sure if James is a middle name or surname as Caspar meowed as the name was being said. He hadn't 'crossed over', for fear of what was on the other side, although I am now lead to believe that he has since. And, having said that, things have stopped and calmed down since then although I still do get a little freaked when i'm home by myself, like I was last Friday night. Ant, on the other hand, still believes there is something here.
And there is. It's called 'the heat'. This place is in dire need of air conditioning. But then, what did I suspect. Sure, the roof of a 100 year old school building is always going to be pleasantly chilly... I'm so not used to the heat that today has been a welcome relief (it's mother nature giving me a birthday present... ain't she sweet!)
Poor Ant has been working hard lately, so whilst he is in bed, i'm chilling out, listening to Depeche Mode's Best Of on my new turntable/CD player and just playing on the net with bed not too far out of sight. Into another working year and while the holidays already seem a distant memory, it would be good to get back into work and earn a buttload of money for the first quarter (I have a home to pay for now...)
Thanks again to all for the birthday wishes - they really mean a lot to me.
