April 2005

We started the month off with a nice boozy dinner at the abode of Tim and Glynn. Tim is a *PCM who most recently gave a lot of his time to building a new home for the Gay and Lesbian Counseling Service. He met Glynn while working at the Manchester Commonwealth Games and Glynn now lives here in Oz. Also at the dinner were Michael and Ma(rk), both complaining that they don't have husbands. (The sooner those two face facts and marry each other, the better for all of us!) There was lots of reminiscing about how different the gay scene in Sydney is these days, probably much to the boredom of Glynn who wasn't here for any of it.

Adam White plays the final
RUSH OB for the season

We also had the final outside broadcast for the RUSH Programme on NOVA 96.9. Once again, Greig and I dragged ourselves and a stack of gear to GAS Night Club and settled in for a night of dancing while mixing. As this was the final before Tom heads over to Ibiza, it also ended up somewhat boozy. It was a good night. Well attended and once again great music. It's a shame that there aren't any gay clubs that play good hard trance sets because we are probably gonna have to go without for a while now.

I decided a couple of months ago to grow my hair long again. It seems that longer hair is more "in" at the moment and I thought it was time for a change. Unfortunately, I am now at the stage where my hair is too short to be fashionable and too long to be tidy. Basically it's just the right length to be crap. I am wearing a lot of hats.

Greig hides his face with
embarrasment while I show
how bad my hair can get

Sean and Mike invited Greig and I down for a quiet weekend in a friends house in Berry on the south coast. It took us about two hours to drive down on Friday evening after which we spent a pleasant night sipping wine on the back verandah and while looking at the stars. It took us by surprise that as Australians, we had trouble identifying the Southern Cross in the night sky. Perhaps it was just because there were so many other stars to confuse us.

After a very leisurely breakfast on Saturday we drove around the area, checking out local wineries. Actually, there are only two local wineries, so it didn't take too long.

We also drove out to an island (we had to take a car ferry across) and followed a very dodgy goat track out to the very southern end of Seven Mile Beach. I think there was a sign at the start of the "road" telling us that anyone not in a four wheel drive should turn back. Unfortunately we were probably traveling a bit too fast and missed the sign.

At the beach we walked for ages on the huge deserted stretch of sand as the sun slowly set in the west. It was very relaxing and not a good idea because it meant that it was getting dark as we tried to navigate the water logged goat track back to the ferry.

Wandering along Seven Mile Beach

We arrived back at the house and prepared a lovely dinner with lots more wine and strange biscuits with a greenish tinge to them. Obviously then we spent more time on the back verandah, talking about the meaning of life, the universe and everything and again failing to find the Southern Cross in the night sky. (The stars were a bit more blurry this time.)

Sunday was a beach day. We headed out to another section of Seven Mile Beach (not at the end of a goat trace on an island that can only be accessed by amphibious four wheel drives) and found a nice spot to set up camp. We spent a few hours just sitting in the sun looking at the waves rolling in and developing skin cancer. Very pleasant, indeed.

On the way back to the car something unexpected happened. We ran into some friends of ours who were just arriving at the beach. They had also driven two hours south of Sydney and chosen to access the same beach at the same time at the same point on what I assume, is a beach that is seven miles long! What are the chances?

Jimi and I are engrosed in
conversation. (Or drunk.)

Amf is back in town from Melbourne. He's just here for a weekend so we used it as an excuse for a nice little dinner party. Just Me, Greig, Brad, Jimi, Amf and Richard. We did as we usually do and dimmed all the lights in the shed so that guests couldn't see all the crap around the place.

We started a major project in the shed this month. The big double hinged doors that are behind the kitchen, leading out to the street needed to be moved out a bit so that we could seal up the opening properly and then line the inside wall. That way it still looks like the doors are there from the outside but from the inside there is a clean wall.

We enlisted the help of Badger to assist us in this task. The door is the size of a garage door so we needed a few hands to move it. It took us most of a Saturday morning, but eventually we banged the door into place and sealed it shut - never to open again. Next we need to insulate and line the inside. That night, with the kitchen in a mess, we had dinner with Sean and Mike.

It was a long weekend so Greig convinced me that I should go to a Queer Nation Party at Home Night Club on the Sunday night. It turned out to be a very quiet party, with attendance way down on the usual numbers. I went with Jimi but he disappeared by about 4am. None of my regular party crowd were there so the party was actually pretty dull. (I need more friends who go to parties but don't pick up!) It certainly reinforced why I refuse to pay the amount of money that they ask for a ticket.

After 8am I met up with Jimi again at his house. He's found himself a friend at Queer Nation and they'd spent the morning getting "acquainted". The three of us headed out to Manacle, which turned out to be an excellent move. The place was jumping and the music was pumping. I stayed until about mid-day before dragging myself home to bed.

The Kransky Sisters.
"We don't have husbands."

Greig and I went to see "The Kransky Sisters" in the Studio at the Sydney Opera House. This is a comedy music act based around three spinster sisters playing very unlikely music on a tuba, reed organ, guitar, musical saw (played with a violin bow) and tambour. The combination of very sheltered upbringing, strange behaviour, superbly droll comic dialogue and downright hilarious treatments of familiar songs, all make for a highly entertaining show. Highlights would have been their Michael Jackson medley and their rendition of "Groove is in the heart".