Lights On, Lights Off

This evening Sydney switched off its' lights between 8pm and 9pm for the second Earth Hour....well most of its' lights, oh ok, maybe about 60%, you still need to be able to see where you're going you know. Most significant were the switch offs at the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Sydney held the first Earth Hour last year and this year it has spread to over 370 locations including New Zealand, US, Canada, UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Is it really useful? Will it really help? Well I guess it's all about raising awareness, though some people think the exercise is so pointless that they've created an anti Earth Hour petition encouraging people to turn everything on for the hour, doesn't look like it was a big hit though with only 87 signatures. Critics from last year pointed out that the amount of energy saved would only be the equivalent of taking 6 standard cars off the road for a year.

Personally I was out taking those pics so no lights were on in my place, effectively I just saved the planet....yay, go me!

Beaches and Bunnies

So this is the beach I spent a couple of afternoons on over the Easter weekend, the weekend was spent with a few friends up at Smith's Lake which is about 4 hours north of Sydney in an area full of lakes and beaches funnily enough called the Great Lakes region. We were lucky enough to get some great weather on Sunday and Monday so made the most of it down at Bluey's Beach.



We stayed in a great house set in a hill over looking the lake, two balconies, two lounges, massive kitchen, all the mod cons. It was such a fantastic relaxing weekend with vast amounts of drink and food consumed, though funnily enough no Easter Eggs. Didn't feel remote guilty when I heard it was snowing in the UK!

All the pics from the weekend can be found on Flickr.

Post Gay Christmas Blues and Balls

So that's it for another year.....well actually Mardi Gras was over two weeks ago but as usual i'm being slack as on the whole blog front, so much for one a week ey...will keep trying.

Despite Sydney's distinct lack of a summer the skies were blue for the parade on the Saturday night, though there was a chilly wind. I managed to get a media pass again so took pics in the parade as it made it's way up Oxford St.

After that I nipped home and got changed for the party which luckily was only a 10 minute walk away at the Entertainment Quarter. Me being a lightweight I only managed to last till about 3.30am before heading home in the rain with no taxis in site.

I was punished the next day by having a stomach bug that laid me out for two days, so when I should have been partying and finishing off the weekend with a bang (so to speak) I was in and out of bed and the loo....nice.

It all goes quiet after Mardi Gras, just like normal Christmas everyone hibernates for a bit to recover from the excesses and lack of money. Good job then that PKF (the company I work for) threw a free Masquerade Ball last Friday. Actually I organised it to be precise and a marvellous night was had by all, aided of course by an evening of free drink and food.

7 Sleeps to Gay Christmas

Yes it's that time of year again, when the gays get all excited with the impending arrival of Mardi Gras....hurrah! The Sydney gay scene has been going through a bit of a rough period lately, an increasing number of straight venues has brought an increase in violence along Oxford St and surrounding areas. On top of that there have been a number of closures of gay venues on Oxford St and in Newtown.

One of the worst incidents of violence was that of a gay couple who were attacked after holding hands, one of them was kicked in the face while laying in the middle of the road. His mobile was stolen and his mother later received a text message from the mobile saying "We've killed your faggot son"....all this in Sydney in 2008. A vigil was held for those two guys and to start getting some action from the Police, Council and Government to get these issues sorted.

However Oxford St is getting ready to put the sparkle back on to celebrate the 30th Anniversary Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras , even if it's for one night only. Saturday 1st March is the big parade following by the closing party. There's also a load of events which happen in the run up to the first including Fair Day which happened on Sunday and at which I took a few pics with new Lomo Fisheye 2 camera.

Personally I'll be heading to Underbear at Arq and the Wet Furr Pool Party as part of the Bear Essentials festival. Again I'll probably be taking pics in the parade, as long as it's not pissing down, then I'll be heading to the party.

At $150 a ticket it's pretty steep but as it's the 30th Anniversary there's talk of big things and surprise guests. Though so far the biggest name they've announced is Olivia Newton-John, doesn't quite float my boat but the locals seem to be getting excited about it. Rumours for other acts include Scissor Sisters and Kylie, though the latter is pretty unlikely.

The summer's not been kind so far so everyone cross fingers 1st March as traipsing up Oxford St in the wet won't be fun. Prepare for photos and updates once I've recovered!

Sparkly and Beaming

It's just like one of those ads in the mags isn't it....but no photoshop here, it's actually me! I've just spent a few bucks on a course of home whitening after getting the moulds and kit from the dentist.

When I was merely a teen I got a stone in my face, thanks to some charming individual, which chipped the front right tooth (as you're looking at it). That got filled and has been there ever since, not bad going for over 15 years but as you can see it was getting a little discoloured. So once the whitening was done the filling was replaced to match the new colour of the rest of the teeth.

I guess I don't have to point out which is before and which is after. Doesn't the before pic look hideous??? I'm sure the extreme close up and flash made them look worse, and as I was looking at them every day I didn't really think the change was very dramatic. But now putting the two pics together you can see the difference. So now I'm ready to flash the gnashers at the papparrazi that stalk me on a regular basis.

You can click on the pic for an even bigger version if you dare!