http://www.ozrocky.com A stack of virtually useless information and pictures about the life and times of Rocky - a free, gay and happy guy living in Sydney, Australia. Sat, 19 May 2012 03:06:21 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/april-2012/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/april-2012/#comments Sat, 19 May 2012 03:06:21 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2471
I always assumed we lived in a “nice” area. It’s quiet (if you excuse planes taking off and landing). It’s friendly – everyone knows everyone. It has a brothel so there are always people around, including security staff walking the girls to their cars. So I was very surprised to discover one morning that some bastard had tried to smash the front windscreen of our car. It obviously take a hell of a lot to smash a windscreen these days. Whoever it was gave it a good go, whacking it hard with something presumably metal and with a fairly sharp [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/april-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/march-2012/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/march-2012/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 05:33:44 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2427
After quite a few years of running my “Just Say No!” campaign, trying to stop Dr Mark from entering floats in the Mardi Gras Parade, there has finally been success. Sadly, it wasn’t my poster campaign outside his house on days when he was holding meetings. Nor was it my promotional fridge magnets or key rings. After all these years of trying, it was Mardi Gras themselves that finally achieved what I have been dreaming of for so long. This year Mardi Gras have decided to remove all reference to “Gay & Lesbian” from the parade title. It is now [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/march-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/kylie-anti-tour/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/kylie-anti-tour/#comments Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:01:35 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2375
I suppose in some ways I’m a failed gay man. I don’t like to shop and I’m not nuts for Kylie. It seems odd then, that after an entire lifetime of completely avoiding seeing her live, I’ve seen her twice this month. (Unlike Greig who has been to each of her concerts but was sadly out of town for this one.) I suspect I may initially have been put off seeing Kylie live by a televised concert I saw a few years ago. To be honest, on that occasion she sung more like I’d expect Charlene from Neighbours to sing. [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/kylie-anti-tour/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/february-2012/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/february-2012/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:00:13 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2333
It’s holiday time! There are three Australian states I still haven’t visited. Well, two states and a territory; Northern Territory, West Australia and Tasmania. Strictly speaking, I have been to Tasmania but that was for a weekend when ACON flew me to Launceston to teach the locals how to do the beat*. While I did have a small opportunity to check out what Launceston has to offer, it was hardly an exhaustive tour. So we have decided to remedy this situation and check out the rest of the Apple Isle. At the beginning of the month Greig and I made [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/february-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/mona/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/mona/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:32:00 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2157
Some time ago, (shortly after “the unpleasantness”), Greig and I saw an edition of The Collectors on ABC Television that featured a new museum in Hobart – coincidentally, the city where the programme was made. That museum was MONA – the Museum of Old and New Art. When it opened early last year after a $75 million upgrade, the museum attracted a fair amount of publicity and probably an equal amount of controversy. You see, the private owner of the collection, a man who made his fortune developing on-line gambling systems, describes himself as a “rabid atheist”. And it shows [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/mona/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/january-2012/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/january-2012/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:03 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2298
Given the variety of quality New Years Eve events in Sydney this year, Greig and I stayed at home and watched TV. Honestly! What the hell has happened to the party scene in Sydney? Sure there are a few day parties being held on New Years Day, but absolutely stuff-all on New Years Eve. As an indication of how bad it is, most people I know headed to Lismore to enjoy the Tropical Fruits Party. Some even went as far away as Los Angeles simply because they knew that there was absolutely nothing to keep them in Sydney. It was [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/january-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/sunset-moonrise/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/sunset-moonrise/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 23:46:36 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2075
Actually, it was only supposed to be “Moonrise”. The sunset was a bonus. This week I jumped in the car with Pete and Jon and headed to South Head with the intention of seeing what we could capture of the rise of the full moon over the ocean. Of course, on these expeditions you always get there while there is still some light so you don’t end up walking over the edge of a cliff. As we were driving east, Pete was watching the sunset developing behind us. We soon realised it was going to be a winner so I [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/sunset-moonrise/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/la-perouse-star-trails/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/la-perouse-star-trails/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 07:35:19 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2004
On Friday night Pete and I headed down to Congwong Beach in South Sydney to try our hand at photographing star trails. Pete’s been experimenting a bit at home but this was actually my first attempt. It actually got off to a rather shaky start. Pretty much as soon as we arrived, a huge cloud rolled in and hid the stars. It wasn’t one of those fast moving clouds either. It was sloooooow. We made the best of the situation and shoot some other images in the hope that the cloud would finally get out of the way. Finally, at [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/la-perouse-star-trails/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/a-brief-history-of-photography/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/a-brief-history-of-photography/#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:00:46 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=1528
The first time I ever picked up a camera was when I was about age ten. It was my father’s old Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta III. This is a classic old camera that was in production between 1954 and 1958. (No, I’m not that old. It was already a very old camera when I got may hands on it!) It was what they considered a “pocket camera”. That assumed that you had pretty large pockets though. The lens was normally stored safely inside the camera body and would fold out at the press of a button. It was a beautiful [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2012/a-brief-history-of-photography/feed/ 0 http://www.ozrocky.com/2011/december-2011/ http://www.ozrocky.com/2011/december-2011/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:00:52 +0000 rocky http://www.ozrocky.com/?p=2022
We’re here! We’re queer! We’re not allowed to get married! The same-sex marriage debate seems to be reaching fever pitch at the moment. Our noble Prime Minister (who apparently doesn’t support any sort of marriage) has announced that her government will not support any changes to the law to allow marriage between same-sex couples. So, on a rather sunny Saturday morning, I joined around 10,000 people who took to the streets to voice their displeasure at the current state of affairs. Sadly, Greig was busy due to other last minute commitments. He wasn’t happy – he’s been at every same-sex [...]]]> http://www.ozrocky.com/2011/december-2011/feed/ 0