Day200

With our 3-song demo now completed, today is the perfect day to share a track with the beautiful people of Blogland.

Here is "Flow"

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holiday

(a blogthis entry)

The trees were moist, damp, alive... radiant green where the thin layers of wax gave in to penetrating rain, breathing heavily as they took us into their arms.

After 3 days of driving, stopping for breaks of new air and sun, we arrived at the sleepy town of Halls Gap, meeting the visiting November rain for a conclave in the mountainous Grampians.

Dismay might have beckoned but something not entirely aethereal was keeping me from being so.

As we dropped our luggage, the warmth of the plush hotel suite and room-for-2 jacuzzi strongly tempted but we pushed on with an easy consensus, driving, winding, to the top of the mountain.

As we arrived at the lookout area, my companion remained behind, warm in the car, seat back and curled up.

We were alone up here.

The rain kicked up a notch but this was only encouraging. Nothing would deter me.

I walked through the mist, breathing deeply as I went. Upon reaching the very tip of the lookout path, I leaned against the railing, stared straight ahead and down into the grey abyss where an expansive vista would have otherwise occupied - hidden - and absorbed the sight before me, held by the clouds:

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Day197 - Whimsical Interludes

I'm all about the whimsy lately.

The Lemonheads - Being Around

If I was in the fridge would you open the door?
If I was the grass would you mow your lawn?
If I was your body would you still wear clothes?
If I was a booger would you blow your nose?
Would you keep it? Would you eat it?
I'm just tryin to give myself a reason, for being around.

If I was a front porch swing would you let me hang?
If I was a dance floor would you shake your thing?
If I was a rubber cheque would you let me bounce
Up and down inside your bank account?
Would you trust me not to break you?
I'm just tryin really hard to make you, notice me being around.

If I was a haircut would you wear a hat?
If I was a maid could I clean your flat?
If I was the carpet would you wipe your feet,
In time to save me from mud off the street?
If you like me, if you love me,
would you get down on your knees and scrub me?
I'm a little grubby, from just being around.

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Day194 - Looking For Inspiration

...and fuel for the flames, I began here and proceded through the posts to see how far I could get before overload. I browsed as far as halfway through October 2009 before I was brimming, satiated.

This image blew my mind (from Glitter Love), then again I'm a sucker for anything that sparkles:

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Guaranteed Instant Happiness in 3 minutes and 30 seconds, anytime, anywhere:

Diner - Martin Sexton

Just try to refrain from singing along ...I dare you.

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Day192 - Skinny

Wednesday night at Bondi Beach: music, wine, cheese and skinny-dipping. Simple pleasures.

I like the vibe in Bondi enough to live there. If only my current location wasn't so convenient.

I met friends at the Beach Road Hotel where me and my all-female company quickly became somewhat distracted by the local talent. There was a good spread of ages: 22, 26, 32 - a nice sample pool from the female population. I always enjoy being surrounded exclusively by women, privy to insights not otherwise obtained. Tonight's conversation included relationships, penis sizes, and food - which in my experience may just be the holy trinity of girl talk.

We headed upstairs to listen to what I can only describe as an avant garde muso who unfortunately sounded like a cat dying ...slowly ...and painfully. I love originality, I love creativity, but there's something to be said for audibility - which I know is subject to taste but it takes alot for me to not want to listen to music. Thus we didn't last long before hitting the beach, relaxed in the slightly cool night air, absorbing the vista under a hazy yellow moon.

Approaching the big hours, there were couples on the beach making out. One pair decided to hit the water in their underwear before eschewing all clothing and having sex on the beach. I'm not exactly sure if they were fucking or making love, but it was a beautiful sight to behold. I feel lucky to live in a society where we feel free enough to express ourselves in ways like this without fear of reprisal.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to get naked in the water, we did the ocean's bidding, removed our garb and became one with her.

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Rihanna - Te Amo

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Day191 - Million

I jumped on the Wii today for a spot of yoga, only to see just how slack I've been this month. Lack of time is never an excuse: we all have the same 24 hours in each day but lately yoga has been usurped in the priority order by work, play and sleep (mandated by the first two).

I noticed after the first week of skipping yoga and the back extensions and ab exercises that follow, that my lower back began to ache - I haven't had back pain in years, aside from the very occasional injury due to over-zealous resistance training, so this was a timely early warning sign.

My weight had crept up a single Kg to 83, which is barely worth mentioning but that's how it begins. I could feel atrophy setting in, so before it became a problem I made time for the gym after work. I hadn't been at that time of day for a while and am not used to having to share equipment but it was well worth enduring the crowds. Even now - the following day - my calves, hamstrings and glutes are still pulsing from the post-workout cross-training, my upper body wrecked by glorious pec & bicep devastation.

Energised and exhausted, I got home and flopped on the couch, about ready to sleep but it was off to dinner at one of my favourite Thai restaurants with a couple of bottles of Semillon, followed by relaxation in the beautiful garden bar at the back of the local - one of my favourite pubs and only a 2 minute walk away. I had a bottle and a half of wine last night and even had my usual early-morning wakeup due to dehydration, yet I feel like a million bucks.

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The Lemonheads - It's About Time (Live Video)

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Day183 - True Blood

The True Blood opening sequence is one of my favourites. Love the song, love the style, love the theme of sin & redemption. It sets the mood so well, as it well should.

Because of associated memories I staved off watching season 3 for a couple of months, feigning lack of interest. When the reviews came in from friends, they were mostly negative. Maybe it was the low expectations, maybe it was just the combined critical states of mind, but I quite enjoyed this season and well enough to look forward to watching the next.

A friend from Tennessee ironically can't stand the southern accents, though I've always found them extremely sexy, right up there with French. From my first phone conversation with a Texan woman, I was somewhat hooked.

Usually I don't think twice about gay love scenes - after all, the tautology applies: love is love - but I did find myself aware of the frequency of gay sex scenes during one episode in particular. I put this down to me being "straight" and not relating viscerally to gay or lesbian sex scenes. I should make the distinction between love scenes and sex scenes, because TB has a combination of both, but this season seemed much more geared towards the lustful end of the spectrum. As such my mind did wander and it affected my investment in and enjoyment of the story somewhat. I wonder if the converse is true for a gay person watching a show laced with male-female sex scenes.

I also wondered if it was just me who had noticed this, so I googled the best/simplest keyword search term I could think of: "gayest program on tv" and sure enough the first hit was an article about the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation dubbing True Blood American TV's "most inclusive program", which gives the show bonus points in my book.

I make some friends laugh, some cringe and I'm sure others secretly blush when the topic comes up and I volunteer that I wish I were gay, or more specifically bi - the logic being: why limit yourself to apples when you can have apples and oranges, but alas it was just not meant to be. I do say this slightly tongue in cheek and with a chuckle, safe in the knowledge that my gay friends would see the humour, especially my good friend who used to visit me for games of chess, armed with amyl nitrite... little did I know at the time what that was used for!

We don't talk as much as we used to; separate countries, no longer work together, no longer gym together, but he provided me with such a unique perspective on life, lust and love, not just because he's gay, but because he's an amazing and bright person. I miss our chats - enough to digress some 90º offtrack...

Other chats that I missed while watching TB were those with the friend I introduced to the show. We too used to be close, nothing was off-limits, we shared our true selves, and to a greater degree than the friend above, understood each other beyond words. I miss that more than I can convey.

The storm is right outside my window to remind me.

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True Blood - Opening Credits

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Day180 - South

Since moving to Sydney 5 years ago, I've been planning the next step. As beautiful a city as it is, I never planned to live here forever. Of course, there are several factors which would decide my fate in this respect, and I'm not adverse to living anywhere permanently but there are 3 places I've long considered as potential homes, even if temporary.

SE Qld
South-East Queensland has the climate I love, the relaxed pace that fits my temperament, and is home to some of the most beautiful and inspiring people I've met. It's possibly the front-runner as choice of destination as it's no farther than Sydney from Auckland, home of my Bubble. Unless I move into a career that enables frequent international travel and at least as much flexibility as I have now, she may not let me move too far away. Maybe music will take me there.

Le Midi
The South of France holds pure romanticism, anonymity, mystery, adventure. I would devour the challenge of being immersed in the language and culture. When I first arrived in Australia I felt relatively anonymous, but I would still bump into Kiwis I knew from time to time and of course after 5 years it's a common occurrence to accidentally meet local friends & aquaintances every other day. In Le Midi I imagine this would be taken to the next level and there's something about that which tickles the deepest recesses of my brain's inspiration receptors, if there is such a thing. I recently saw a documentary on the making of the Rolling Stones' 1972 album Exile on Main Street, recorded at Villefranche-sur-Mer in the Côte d'Azur, which only re-ignited my interest in the region. Minus the heroin. The proximity to Italy and southern Switzerland only enhances the pull.

SoCal
Southern California, whereof some of the greatest music has been borne. The climate is there, the people are lovely (like anywhere). I need to traverse more of this region, explore what is the gateway to a very beautiful country. Every year for the last half decade I have intended to apply for the diversity visa (aka green card lottery), if for no other reason than to keep my options open, let fate give me a nudge. I get excited every year as the visa entry submission period approaches. It's only open for 4 weeks, and every year without fail, life gets crazy and I miss the submission period for one reason or another. Same again this year.

The above being said, I really am comfortable anywhere and everywhere. A true child of the Earth, independant of political borders, home is where my feet are and is occasionally found in the arms of another.

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An awesome cover of a non-Exile Stones track:

Fuel - Heartbreaker

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