So pretty much very little has been happening in the land of me, I just finished doing a fantastically fun pantomime which had its own unique quirks being a pantomime. Although as much fun as I had playing an 8 year old character which enabled me to ham it up, which garnered me consistent laughs every night (something that no other character received) but I guess that the main issue was working with children. No I don’t hate children, in fact with a few of them they are quite manageable (hell I’m a 22 year old male and I want children)  but en masse they do get quite frustrating. Though there was some adorable moments, especially from their innocence and their plain curiousity with my piercings, just before show night I had given myself a lip piercing which the kids loved to talk about as well as look at. It was adorable to say the least.

Now while I’m still on the topic of theatre, we had our AGM for the theatre group on Wednesday night. I even managed to get voted onto committee, I was incredibly surprised by the nomination. And I am glad to have the opportunity to assist with the shaping of the group as well as the behind the scenes issues.

I’m sorry but the promise of no whinging is about to be broken…

At the moment work is literally hell, I have been relegated back to the weekend roster which I loathe, but not only that even though approaching Christmas I have had a major slash in my weekly hours throwing both my financial but also my social life into ruins, it really is not fair as I have spent over 5 years in this company and I have worked hard through those times. After this shift in my working conditions has reinforced the idea that I need a change of industry desperately, I would love to move into Public Relations or Marketing. But my biggest issue at the moment for a move into these industries is that I have neither experience nor contacts within either industry both of which are crucial for any type of position in these sectors.

Well I think that just about wraps it up for the time being, once again I will not promise to post shortly but rather will promise to try my best and have one up as soon as I possibly can.

It is these things that have caused his popularity to slide not only as preferred Prime Minister but on a two party preferred system.
Then we come to the maniacal monk who is of course Tony Abbott. His incredibly conservative/Christian views paired with his fondness for wearing speedos has resulted in him being a popular target for the Australian media.
Of course we can’t forget about NSW state politics which involves paedophilia , the media splashing a ministers sexuality all over the news compromising the privacy of the other patrons, the there was the recent penrith by-election due to fraud which resulted in a 25% swing against labour.
With another two elections due within the next 12 months I’m sure the soap opera that is Australian politics will continue to provide entertainment, and with one party falling apart at the seams just makes this one thing to watch.

So basically I had a trivia night as a promo/fundraiser for the boy from oz. My table ended up coming in fourth, but as much fun as it was, the tension was palpable in the room. In particular with a certain pairing, but I am not one to be gossiping about these sorts of things. Oh and I won this ugly native rosemary plant, which I already own and have successfully grown at home.

Then after that part of our table went to Heaven in Northmead. Heaven is a gay night that happens every 2 months, it has a rather interesting cross section of people throughout Sydney. But the awkward moment finally arrived when I walked through the door and my ex was standing there with his new whatever you want to call it. That whatever you call it looked quite um screwed up by drugs. It was a good feeling to know how far he had slid down in terms of potential people to be with. That was alright that initial meeting, but then there was the aftershocks of this meeting. I had not seen him seen December 2008 so it was unusual. But everytime he walked past I would get a look up and down from him. It was quite awkward standing there, but the looks weren’t filthy looks or anything but rather a look up and down checking me out as if he had never seen me before.

Was it an ego boost? Yes. Will I go back there? No. I value myself far too much to put myself back through something like that again.

Then there are the new Wii games, that being a re-imagining of Donkey Kong Country and the new Zelda: Skyward Sword game. I for one will be buying all of these new announcements, just to wait until next year once they have all arrived and hopefully a better job so that I can rationalise such self-indulgent purchases.

So that is basically it, short I know but I’ll try to have something a bit more substantial next time.

Yes Australia is a sporting nation, but soccer was barely a blip on the radar until the last world cup, and within weeks we had already forgotten about how far we had gotten. We as a nation as proud as we are need to realise that Europeans are as obsessed with soccer as we are with say cricket, and that of course means that more children enter that sport thereby allowing a greater potential for a world class player and therefore team.

Unfortunately I can foresee Australians after being knocked out will focus on the negatives of how we didn’t get the cup. When in reality we should be cheering that as a nation who aren’t soccer nuts got as far as we did. But unfortunately that’s not the spirit of most Australians (well at least the media). To me that sort of attitude is disappointing and we should be happy at where we are and work on it, as we enter more world cups with the potential to host one we will continue to become more into soccer and more children will enter the sport and eventually we may take that cup home, but not this time but eventually. Though that eventually won’t come soon enough for so many people out there.

But before I sign off on this one I need to say that I would love for Australia to bring home the cup, but I am just being realistic.

What are the reasons behind getting Grindr? Well to me and I daresay most other users of this application it is to obviously find other gay guys in your vicinity. I guess this stems from the fact that so many of us feel as though we are being left out, or are the only ones around and this is where the app’s main feature comes in handy. Where does this feeling of loneliness come from? well I’d say that it comes from the feeling in high school that as Daffydd from Little Britain famously says “I am the only gay in the village”. You feel as if this will allow you to connect to others that are feeling the same way, with similar circumstances.

So after you power Grindr up it becomes quite thrilling with copious messages sent to you as you are the new kid on the block or more aptly “fresh meat”. This initial high lasts for about two weeks, where you are bombarded by so many messages from people nearby. But then as the novelty of you wears off the messages fade away to nothing and you feel used, but does that stop you from logging in? of course not! After the thrill of being pursued is gone, the thrill of the chase kicks in once again sourcing the fresh meat nearby except you have become the predator.

After trying it at home for awhile you find yourself just logging in quickly to see if anyone is nearby when you are out, be it the movies, lunch or even just a day out shopping. It is quite a strange feeling to discover that there is someone within shouting distance of you, that is not only gay but shares your taste in technology.

Although there is a great side of Grindr where you can network with like minded people, there is also a much seedier side to Grindr. The fact that is nothing but a virtual meat market, with about half of the profiles featuring headless, shirtless torsos, and it is that that slowly begins to snap you back into reality. With X rated pictures banned to be on public display as per Apple’s stringent screening process, the developers have found a way around this. Featuring messages which can contain images, I have no idea how many times I have logged in and without a hello or anything I have found a cock pic staring me in the face. One area in Sydney that is particularly bad for this is the Hills district, which either features that sort of image or a rather blatant proposition.

Will I continue to use Grindr? I believe I will continue as I attempt to relive that initial high. But after that it really boils down to fact that it can be used quite effectively as a networking tool. But in todays world does the convenience as well as the addictive properties of such an app worth it?

Is anyone else out there that are addicted to this app? Or maybe even addicted to something technological that is just as insidious.

Work today was in fact not that bad it was last night that work truly got to me, being forced onto the  main register when I being the weekend/Thursday night service supervisor shouldn’t have been on a register. Basically after finding out today the managers on today were not happy at all. The manager that was on last night I sincerely believe that he does not like me, or its the fact that I won’t call an apple an orange for his benefit, I will tell him straight to his face that he is wrong or basically being straight with him. I just don’t get it surely you would want staff that know what they’re doing so that things get done correctly. But really this man is best described as a garden gnome come to life, he has some very odd OCD ticks. Sure I should not complain or whinge about that fact but it truly gets to me, however if any justification is necessary I also have a mild case of OCD, which for me the main ticks for me is that things need to be balanced and ordered. But with the other managers on my side I will eventually get my own way, or he will be spoken to about the matter.

So on to my night tonight, after receiving a text message today from my best friend about dinner and drinks at the pub, I was rather excited to come along for the ride. We ended up eating at Pizza Hut, which was glutton central for me eating way way too much and making myself a little ill by the end of it. Once we were done there we headed up to the pub, we get within 5 metres of the entrance way and two (half) of the group decided that they no longer wanted to go to the pub, instead they wanted to wander around Windsor. I was rather frustrated by this as they had agreed to the pub from the beginning as that was always the plan. So we ended up at the liquor store where I bought a little bit of alcohol. After consuming that we discovered that my best friend’s boyfriend was at the pub, so we headed back leaving those other two anti-social and all round difficult people to wander around Windsor on a rather cold night. I enjoyed not only the atmosphere but meeting her new boyfriend.

So that’s about it for my little rant for the night, I hope you guys have enjoyed, comment away if you want. And I guess I hope that I haven’t scared you guys away.

Oh and one other thing go my boys. The Titans flogged Manly I am incredibly happy for that particularly since I got laughed at tonight for following them!

BCCT's The Boy From Oz

So let me just preface this with a note that I love pretty much every aspect of amateur theatre, but honestly with everything there are bound to be things that irritate you just that little bit. This is going to seem like a huge rant but really the majority of this post is something that only happens a fraction of a percent of time.
So let’s start, to begin with there is an assumption that you are at least proficient in all aspects of a musical. To say the least I am far from that. When going through things both musically as well as the choreography sides of things the language and the speed at which we go through is difficult for me to keep up with, fortunately I have a fairly good memory and can practice. But the bits that I am unsure of when practicing are the dangerous bits for me to rehearse, personally I worry that by practicing incorrect form or sequence is going to ingrain bad habits.
Then there is the next stage of it, combining the two. At present we are still using the CD which means we can relax on the singing, yet have we as a cast become too reliant on the CD and therefore too accustomed to the luxury of not having to sing. Also on this point am I going to be too focused and concentrated on one or the other diminishing the quality of the other.
By all means these qualms are isolated to just a handful of people and it is something that will work out over time and as the deadline becomes dangerously close the cast will truly snap into action. It does feel that we are behind schedule but with the short play season interrupting rehearsals early on the foundations of this musical are a bit shaky. But I remain confident that a little bit of hard work as well as a 100% commital will easily rectify this and produce one of the finest stage productions that BCCT has put on. And that is “The Boy from Oz”.
Oh and let’s not forget my rather classy leg spread at the end of one of the numbers. Which with the drop onto one knee will be a relief, fingers crossed that it’s nothing too revealing.