Sydney gets its gay on...

with two different options on the one night: Scissor Sisters or Stephen Fry.

I opted for Scissor Sisters and am glad I did. The show was energy packed, however, it was not without it's flaws. The main problem I had with the night was the sound. And I guess that stems from the venue. Big Top at Luna Park is an ok venue for big parties or huge dinners, but as a concert venue it leaves a lot to be desired. The biggest desire is that of good sound. There were a number of occasions when a member of the Scissor Sisters was talking in between songs and it was virtually incomprehensible thanks to the acoustics of the venue. This I hate with a passion. When I go to see a live act I go to hear their music at a volume and quality I could never reproduce at home. I'm not a "performance" person. I really couldn't give a flying fig what the artists do on stage, it's the big sound and live renditions of their music I want to experience. So there is where my disappointment lies. I can only imagine it must be frustrating for the performers as well.

However, during two numbers I stood still and closed my eyes and just listened. The great thing was that I could hear every sound around me. I could hear the crowd singing along. I could hear the reverb from the back wall. I could feel the limited bass. I could feel the people moving around me. Their live renditions of their studio recordings were just fantastic and seem to take some of the tunes to a new level of intelligence.

So, the highlight for me was "Kiss You Off" and "Invisible Light". Both these songs showcased what fun, clever and innovative artists the Scissor Sisters really are.

Ummmm, I think the bear likes Kylie...

Now let me bore you with holiday snaps...

Yes, I've been on holiday. It was a well needed break too.

	It started out at the new Teneriffe Festival in Brisbane. The promise of good food and free live music was too much to pass by.
	The lads, Mark and Graeme, ordering a coffee to kick the morning off.
	Meeting the locals
	Watching Operator Please through a very sexy forearm. The other music highlight was Blue Juice. They were nuts, sounded great and very entertaining.
	So we move on to Far North Qld: Magnetic Island. We stayed here in a place called Bungalow Bay. The accommodation was basic but that was perfect. There was even a fridge in there to keep the milk cold for breakfast.
	This is the location of Bungalow Bay. It's called Horseshoe Bay. I loved it here and this was definitely the better side of the Island. It was quiet and more friendly here.
	What can I say?
	We had a few beaches all to ourselves at some time during our stay. The water was a beautiful 22 degrees and the daytime temps were about 27 out of the water. The good thing about this time of year is that there are very few, if any, stingers in the water.
	Oh geez Mark! Was that you? No, it was the smell of 2 or 3 day old coral spawn being washed up on the shores. It stunk!
	A highlight on the Thursday night was Coconut Bowls. The idea: You get two bowls of a coconut to knock down all the pins. Knock over the middle one to score a free beer. This is not as easy as it sounds. Coconuts rarely roll where you want them to. Even the crowd are warned about possible danger as they fly down towards the pins. Needless to say, out of the 86 bowlers that night, I tied first with one other. In the play off she beat me by two pins.
	Top of the world Ma!
	This is Shadow, the black cockatoo. He was a friendly old fellow and LOVED the camera.
	I love this pic of Mark and Shadow.
	You know you're not supposed to smile at these. This is Barbie. She was beautiful and surprisingly soft to touch. Her jaw was taped as, even at this size, her jaw is strong enough to rip your finger off with one clean bite... and I need my fingers for work.
	The coolest accessory on the island. A special scarf.
	Our local. After a full day of activities we would settle back and watch the sun set over the ocean. The bar manager here was great. One night we were watching a live band at Bungalow Bay and the Bar Manager turned up and spent the night chatting to us and letting us in on some of the Islands secrets. It was a great night and he even offered us a loan of his car for the day.
	Over on the mainland, in Townsville, we had a day of caching. While filling in time before the late night ferry we stopped in at one of the very few bars open. We were the only ones here apart from the staff. The music was, well, very gay... So I asked the barman if it was, and he seemed a little taken back and said "No", so I said "Oh, well I just wondered because of your music choice".
	This is an amazing piece of coral. I heart Coral.

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Smash...

Haircut thursday...

and yes, I know it was only Wednesday. I have no idea why I kept thinking it was Thursday all day today. But I did, so there.

I went to get a hair cut today so that I would neat and tidy for my holiday. As usual I went to the same barber I've been going to for many years. He welcomed me into his dodgy looking shop with open arms. Now that's the kind of greeting you rarely find these days. I sat down and we had the weather to chat about. I know I've said this before, but my barber scares me. I have no idea what the hell he's saying most of the time. His accent is so strong. I nod and smile and occasionally make sense of a word and add my own few words back. Well, he was in for a chat today. I think it was all about the cold weather. "Ish cowld! Mumble mumble mumble..."

He kicked the heater around to face me and all was good. However, I was soon smelling a smell I have not smelt in a very long time... Burning hair. My burning hair! Clippings were rolling down onto the heater, crackling a little then burning up with that pungent stink.

Somehow he talked most of the haircut today. I managed to pick up on a couple of things he was saying:

- it was cheaper to have someone killed many years ago. These days it costs too much. You used to be able to organise a hit over in Glebe. Not these days, it's all family and restaurants.
- All the hookers around Redfern are black! No white women these days. You have to go out to Canterbury for a white woman.
- It was his 71st birthday yesterday and he celebrated by going to get new pills from the doctor. He did say what they were for, but I didn't catch that bit. I'll just assume they were not viagra because he didn't seem to impressed with the hookers nearby.
- he had views about Bondi, but I didn't catch them either. In fact I didn't even understand he was talking about Bondi until he mentioned the beach. He pronounced it "Bunda Bits".

Anyway he would sway and he would brace himself on the bench. I started to think he wasn't going to survive to the end of my haircut. Scary stuff.

The place still smelled of my burning hair, I paid up and wandered out to grab some lunch. While I was standing waiting for a sandwich someone at the counter gladly pointed out the blood behind my ear. Thanks for that. He had cut me. No surprise really. I grabbed a few paper towels and pressed them behind my ear and hoped to god that was the only cut.

And to think, years ago I was foolish enough to pay top dollar for a Tony & Guy hair cut. I love haircut Thursday.

Teehee...

Here's another event poster I've been designing...

Working with these colours has been fun and I'm particularly proud of the hibiscus.

One for Mark...

Don't wanna walk away
I couldn't anyway
You fill my empty day
You know you make me stay

Cos you're fucken awesome

Mmm hmmm...

Bit and pieces from the weekend...

I was told a few times over the weekend that I looked very tired. To be honest, I didn't really like being told that. I know I looked like shit and I know I need a few good night's sleep. I can't wait for my holiday to come. Actually, I don't think I look THAT tired.

And just because...

We went to a party on Sunday night...

and I think the Scooby Gang have never looked hotter!

I'm Wild About Whales...

Living on the coast I often wander up and down the beach looking out towards the horizon and hope to see a tale or fin slap. Occasionally, if I'm really lucky I might actually see a whale breach. But most of the time, I just see the horizon.

Now, with the help of my friend Twitter, I can be more confident at spotting a whale when I gaze out from my beach. I've just started following @WildAboutWhales. They send updates on Twitter of whale sightings along the coast of NSW. This is fantastic and I heart them.

Oh, and just in case you're still old school, and check webpages at random times, and you want to see where the whales are here is their website. It even includes a funky little map.

Good news everyone...

My design for a New Year's festival poster has been selected as a finalist. I wasn't actually too confident when I submitted the design for a few reasons, including I just ran out of time to really polish it off. What you see above is only a small section of the design I submitted. I'm already stoked because being in the Top 5 I've won a free pass to the three day festival. Go me. The decision on the final design will be made at the end of July.

I have a new fave tune...

LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change (Stereogamous Remix).
I danced my arse off to this track during the early hours of Monday morning. Lights flashing, smiling faces.

She was into French cuisine but I ain't no cordon bleu...

I'm no good at chatting up and I always get rebuffed
Enough to drive a man to drink, I don't do no washing up
I always leave the stuff piled up, a-piled up in the sink

But you will always find him in the kitchen at parties

Food and wine...

used to be friends of mine.

On the weekend the Manly Food and Wine festival took place. It's pretty much your local community type event where local restaurants showcase a dish or two and a local wine producing region is also highlighted.

The region this year, as with most years was the Hunter region. To be honest, while there are some great wines produced in this region it all became a bit same same. Looking for a red? Well, there was only two choices: your Cab Sav or Merlot. Then there was the blends of the above. This really was a shame as I like to try new things when I visit festivals, because really that's the point, isn't it? I wandered around the festival twice before any wine grabbed my attention*. The wandering was good, because the people of Manly are a good looking bunch, so eyecandy and people smiling and laughing was not in shortage.

Food options, well, there was a lot to choose from all for $12 a plate. Fantastic value, NOT! A spoon full of something for $12 just made me sigh. However, the sun was out and the atmosphere was worth the dosh to sit and watch the passes by and the waves crash onto the beach. What a great location for a festival.

A designers market was tacked on to the festival along the beach promenade.On Saturday I wandered through here, spied a couple of cool t-shirts and some fantastic home made nougat. I bought a nougat sample pack and it didn't last the whole weekend. Was gone in a flash. I now firmly believe cranberries in nougat is a total winner!

So here were the downers:
- price of food
- wandering around by myself
- lack of real variety in wine choices

On the bright side:
- Beautiful location
- Happy people
- Showcase of why I love this suburb the best

So, next year, if you're not doing anything, come along with me.

*Good thing, in these days of limited alcohol intake for me, that sampling a wine or two was the equivalent of maybe one glass. Luckily there were heaps of non-alcoholic options and plenty of water around.

Well that was a wonderful dream...

and I'm going to share.

I was charged with coming up with the concept art work for a new kid's cartoon. The style was the classic Hanna-Barber's "Josie and the Pussycats", But had a modern twist.

It stared Britney Spears as Britney Spears and she had a square robot as a side-kick. Naturally, and most unimaginatively it was called "Spears in Space".

Each Episode had her singing one of her hits, so I had to Wikipedia her because I could only think of one song, "Toxic".

Sorry, you know how much I think sharing dreams is boring, but I decided not to disguise it as a good idea.

Late nights ahoy...

Dave and I look like we've got some fun late nights ahead.
We've got tix to see:
Scissor Sisters
The Skins - Scissor Sisters by shiftdc2

The Ting Tings
The Ting Tings We Walk by radiomasternet

And I absolutely LOVE this last track. It may leave you thinking to yourself: WTF?!
Miike Snow


However, this track is my fave Miike Snow track:
Miike Snow - Billie Holiday by Shahram

I'm loving this right now...

I'm guessing it's a tribute to this song: