March 2006 |
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 A suitably dark pic of semi-naked boys at the RezErection Party. Well, the month started with the Mardi Gras weekend. And the Mardi Gras weekend started with the RezErection Party. This is a nice little dance party where there is a very strict dress code. Either underwear or speedos. Nothing else (other than shoes, of course). It's also an invitation-only (I have friends in low places), men-only event which makes the dress code a little more interesting. It's a very sexy party with lots of very sexy men. There may or may not have been a back room - I can neither confirm nor deny. In any case, I had a very pleasant night, a particular highlight being dirty dancing with a very hot, ripped/toned/muscular, guy for part of the evening. I was a very happy camper. The party finished for me at about 4am - I wanted to save some steam for Saturday nights festivities. A major success this year: I managed to completely avoid any involvement in any Mardi Gras floats apart from supplying some technical knowledge and gear to one. That was Ma's Brokeback Mountain float. ("Don't do a Brokeback Mountain float", I told, him. "Every bastard's gonna do a Brokeback Mountain float". But did he listen? Nooooo.) So he did his Brokeback Mountain float (as did another couple of groups) and a good time was had by all, yadda, yadda, yadda. We missed it because we spent Saturday evening sleeping and generally taking it very easy. We were able to arrive at the Mardi Gras Party all fresh and relaxed. The party itself wasn't real exciting, but there was one very important highlight. Paul and Rishi are a lovely couple that we have known for a couple of years. They have always been regular dance party pals and I always try to find them at parties and spend some time with them. They are just good fun. Genuinely lovely guys. Around the middle of last year, Paul had an accident. Not so much of an accident, but more of an incident that would change his life. While lifting a relatively light load, he put his back out. The pain got severe and he ended up in hospital. The diagnosis: his spinal cord was damaged and he will spend the rest of his life in a wheel chair. I can't imagine how it must feel for someone as active as Paul, a keen sportsman, to come to terms with that. Well, less than a year after suddenly finding himself in this position, Mardi Gras was Paul and Rishi's "coming out" with Paul in a wheel chair. It must have been incredibly difficult emotionally for them. But I'm completely blown away by how quickly Paul has come to terms with this change in life. If it was me, I'd probably still be lying in my bed trying to save up enough pain killers and booze to top myself. But here they were. Just like nothing had changed other than the fact that Paul now danced on wheels instead of legs. It was a great night with the added bonus that I got to sit on Paul's lap when my own legs were getting a little tired. Being the true party animals that they are, they partied on until the bitter end (10am), while I bailed at about 6am.  Apparently this is what I missed - more fucking cowboys! Ma held his annual post Mardi Gras party at his house where we got to meet some of the guys who were foolish enough to become involved in his float. ("Don't do a Brokeback Mountain float", I told, him. "Every bastards gonna do a Brokeback Mountain float". But did he listen? Nooooo. Sorry. I'm repeating myself.) It was a fairly quiet affair but I did manage to hear some of the horror stories of the float this year. Mmmmm. Glad I was sleeping. Unfortunately the horror stories mean that they are even more keen to get me back on board next year. Well, that plan didn't work very well. Alan and Phillip are a wonderful "mature" couple that we have known for quite a few years. (God, I hope they don't read this and see the "mature" reference. I'll be dead meat!) They had a small shin-dig at their house to celebrate their 11th anniversary. We got to meet up with a couple of new faces as well as some more familiar ones. The thing that I think is wonderful about Alan and Phillip (apart from them just being them), is that they both were previously married for quite a few years. They were certainly married for long enough to raise kids. Then, after coming to terms with their sexuality, they both made that very tough decision and came out as gay. A few years later, they met each other and now, at 11 years, they are both in the longest lasting relationship of their lives. They have no regrets, wouldn't trade their kids for anything, but are just loving being who they really are. The house in Dulwich Hill has settled. This means: The nice thing was that the 10% deposit was paid to us directly while the rest of the money went to the mortgage on the shed. We went on quite a spending spree. I am now the proud owner of a brand new Mackie Onyx 1620 mixer (Frequency Response: +0, -1dB @ 20Hz - 50kHz, THD: < 0.004% @ 20Hz - 20kHz, 110dB Dynamic Range) with firewire interface. Are you impressed? Do you even know what I just said? Do I? Greig is soon to be the proud owner of a brand new Suby. A small group of us popped along to the Sydney Opera House to see a return visit of the Kranski sisters. You may remember them from such Journal entries such as April, 2005. They have a new show, "Heard it on the wireless". If you really care, read what I said last April. |
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