Sound of Mull

Ricky Martin still rocks my world

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:08:00 +0000

OMJB. Unbelievably: Ricky Martin still has it. He completely sizzles as he works the chair in this trailer from the next Glee episode.

A pity they copped out on the wiggling..... oh well, can't have it all!
Now... to pick up Spanish. Onwards to Movida! (well, more like Movida Next Door).

Matt Corby's a demigod of Sound and Fury. Here's his song 'Brother'

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:21:00 +0000

This is so unbelievably amazing. His voice is like everything I love about Australia - its grit, its masculinity, its beauty. It's like waking up in the morning on a picnic mat in the middle of a vineyard and smelling dirt so quieScent but alive, so alive.

Bloody hell. I didn't realise he was 21. This is so f-ed. He's going to be ridiculously good when he's 35. OMJB.

Midsumma Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:03:00 +0000


It was a super warm day - and considering how ridiculously cold it has been in Melbourne - it was brilliant!

Nic and Andrew larkin' about

This is me with the Ceramicist from Unit 6
checking out the stalls (and topless boys).

Then I bumped into a fellow
pinkboard blogger: Grant from Gay and Away.

More Andrew

Bumped into another pinkboard blogger:
Shannon Boh from Aussie Space Time Traveller

Summer really belongs to these incredibly fit boys.
But as beautiful as they are,
they don't come close to Jonathan Best. OMJB

Gotta love Drag Queens with their baggages

Detour to Fitzroy Gardens as we were walking back home

Part II: The God of Mice and Men - In defence of a Church - note I didn't write 'The Church'

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:52:00 +0000

This is a continuing post from my last entry (Click Here).

Rome. Image source: here.

For me, all talk on death inevitably leads to questions of the afterlife and God - it's like this idea of all roads leading to Rome - which is poignant I guess, Rome being the eternal city and all. But this topic isn't something you can easily bring up with a fellow gay friend - especially if you're an out Gay but closet christian (not that I'm one). I recently attended a gay-friendly/ gay-oriented church in Melbourne and the thing that struck me is that there are a few questions that need to be asked here for it to actually flourish.

Why do gay people hate the church?
Here are my thoughts:

1. Because they say what we do is wrong - LOUDLY. Even though we know that we can do the things we want to do, at least in Australia, and not get thrown in prison. And really, it's none of their business what happens in my bedroom. Or kitchen. or bathroom. or on the dining table. or on the couch.

For a Gay Friendly church to succeed, I think it needs to go beyond something on a website saying: we accept all. I know the pastor of this melbourne church has been reaching out to the heads of neighbouring churches - hoping to forge a connection to let them know that they're starting a gay friendly church in their midst. This, I think, is pretty powerful. But this actually isn't being conveyed to the gay community. I think a good advert / poster for the church needs to actually capture this.

2. Because when we point out to them that gay men wanting to sleeping with GAY men (or bisexual men) is none of their business, they say:
'You're recruiting. You'll turn my son gay. You'll send our children the Wrong Message'.

Hang on. Do I detect 'Projection' in play here? Christians do the recruiting. Christians will turn your son Christian. Christians are the ones that attempt to evangelise, witness and preach The Message. We just have amazingly talented people who write television scripts and play characters on shows like Glee. Okay. Maybe we're recruiting people to support Gay Rights, but we ain't recruiting anyone who doesn't want to do it. Although, I will record here that I am aware of Male Rape, and believe it to be heinous.

A gay friendly church needs to... hmm... I'm not sure about this one. From the 'message' front: I think they need to organise a play or something - like 'Putting God on Trial', and having God defended in a very human way. Is that blasphemous??
Or maybe the church needs to put on seminars about reconciling with family members who are Christian. One of the things that struck me about the pastor was a comment she said about the location (it's housed in a beautiful tiny church) - she believed that having gay people step back into a church building, knowing that they'd be loved and welcome would be a healing experience. And I have to say, that's pretty special.

Also, they're marching at the Pride March in February, and I believe they're going to be showing something quite different. It's a pity they don't have a stall at the Midsumma Festival

3. Because inevitably a gay man wanting to sleep with another gay man is compared to a man wanting to touch / sleep with a child, or a dog, or a brother.

Wow. Can we just say that the church has a bit of trouble with throwing the first stone here - particularly with the first one about touching children?
Here's where the gay friendly church needs to decide where it stands... and I believe this is where it will hit its first hurdle. I believe that for a church to succeed - it must firmly acknowledge that such things happen, are wrong, something along the lines of... I'm sure there is a witty protest poster outside. I think it would be interesting if a church posted this up - it would be newsworthy, different, and would send a message to the gay community: we're on YOUR side. I think. This may require some legal advice though. Hmmm.

4. Because the whole Christian message of being fruitful and multiplying is terribly irresponsible. Contraception is a beautiful thing. Overpopulation is a bad thing. Mindlessly breeding is a terrible idea.

Hmmmm..... I think the gay-friendly church I visited has got the right idea. It wants to preach messages that are catered TO gay people. It is about recognising their worth, recognising issues that matter: challenges gay people face adopting, raising a family, what the bible says about homosexuality, men and women's health issues, what GLBTIQ people face growing older in the community, gay history (super important - the church can become a receptacle of knowledge of what the people who have gone before us have achieved on our behalf). We can have days that remember important events that have shaken the foundations of society to give us the space we now enjoy, and the space we will enjoy.

5. Because they're not content to say what we do is wrong - LOUDLY - they want to then force us to obey their beliefs. And being a well-connected community, they do it to devastating effects. I'd like to point out that there's a word for this: ochlocracy - Rule of the Mob. And don't take it as a compliment.

Hmm. here's where there's a bit of a hiccup. the gay-friendly church needs to grow, and grow quickly. Perhaps tweet gay issues, plug into the newspaper scene, link up with local gay businesses - then form partnerships to create a very vocal front, meet with MPs etc. But this is probably not a priority at present.

6. Because before there was a church, there was a Gay man. Before there was Christmas, there was a pagan winter festival. Before there was the flood, there was a gay man. And the church should bloody respect a culture far older than its own...
(see point 3?)

But what happens if I do believe in the Christian God?

Today is World Religion Day - and for many of us, this observation will be met with apathy, ambivalence or fury. Questions as to whether Religious organisations have been allowed to run unfettered, untaxed, untamed to the detriment of a pluralistic society are worth asking. Hardly anyone in the gay community will doubt the ferocity of the force these organisations can wield (Think: Westboro Baptist Church). Many will have in our heads the impact their message of hate has done - teenage suicides, destruction of families, continued subjugation of the community as second class citizens. Others will find some bleak comedy in all of this: Ranker has a list of the top 15 anti-gay activists caught being gay written by Joanne (not sure if it's entirely accurate, but worth the read). To these people, religion - particularly Christianity, is very much a joke.

But can our experience allow us to ask if the belief in God can still be a force of good for the gay community. And then ask (in a much quieter voice) if a church could be a force of good for the gay community? Or are gay christians mere aberrations or jokes to point and laugh at?

I find it incredibly hard saying I'm a Christian not because of the derision you get from the gay community but because I've found the church as an organisation so repugnant, so evil that I've stopped saying that I'm a christian - I'd rather just say I believe in the Christian God and leave it as that. But I have seen the message turn in the last few years. There has been a move towards self-reflection within a church, a look at how the message is being conceived, represented and its effect - particularly after that bunch of Christians went over to Africa to preach their message of hate, and the Ugandans then set up legislation to put gay people to death. Check out this viral video: (Heck it even Rhymes)

Not to be a wet blanket - because I really welcome this change - but this rediscovery of self-reflection in the church is battling uphill given that the religion has too long been an excuse to stop thinking (Although, I note, that this video's gone viral in the last couple of days - in fact, I think the guy is probably the inspiration behind the video pastor on the tv series 'The Good Wife'). So they've now packaged the message in rhymes and wit, and embraced the message that the church needs change to get people back into thinking about God. But is it symptomatic of something the church just does time and time again?

The interesting thing about the church is that it isn't this static beast. It is practised in a plethora of ways and it constantly re-invents itself through the years in different geographic locales. But does the church really, really CHANGE? This cycle of cosmetic changes might not actually change the underlying way the church operates - if anything, it has probably contributed to the longevity of the church hardline message of Fear. There is this culture of fear of the outside, fear of individualism that exists in the church which.... I would argue, is probably the hardest thing to bridge between the gay community and a church. We've all struggled to get to the place where we accept ourselves - the receiving end of discrimination and bullying to varying degrees.... how do we then embrace this bullying entity? What's worse, the ability for the church to reinvent itself with minor cosmetic changes also exposes it to severe manipulation - use of the bible to support slavery, the inquisition, the colonisation of other cultures, the subjugation of indigenous population, war, etc. Do we trust that we wouldn't similarly be manipulated? Do we really want anything to do with.... christians? the church?

I'd like to find a church, I think...

One of the reasons my best man is Clement - my classmate from when we were both doing high school in Singapore - is the fact that he's one of the few gay people I can really talk to about everything - sex, God, family, our partners, education, ambition, etc - he gets where I'm coming from in a stellar way that I haven't found with anyone else... and unfortunately, that includes Nic as well.

Though Nic is Christian (converting when he was 17), he didn't grow up Christian; didn't spend years in Sunday School; didn't feel like his faith was being chewed up by the hypocrisies seen while attending a school run by the Methodists; didn't attend church camp; didn't form his identity around this idea of being a good Christian soldier. For me, I've experienced all that and more. And I've been jaded before, and then gotten to the point of being so jaded with being jaded I ended up right where I started. Check out what I wrote in 2004 here. And sometimes, it feels like I've gone around this circle so many times, I just need to pluck myself out of it and get me some new religion.

I've tried being Buddhist. I have found Buddhists to be one of the most incredibly beautiful people out there - a large part of why I really want to visit Bhutan. What's stopped me is that I just believe that there is something larger than me lookin' out for me. I've always felt that... well, except one time in Morocco (but that's another story). And every time I've found myself in a tight corner... my first reaction's always, 'Oh Dear GODPLEASEHELPME' - and while I do jest about changing OMG to OMJB, I'm still very much a believer.

Clement once introduced me to a church in San Francisco - I really liked it. It's Grace Cathedral. I think I would actually move to San Francisco so I can attend this church, if it were that easy to move to SFO. Still checking out this gay-friendly church in Melbourne. More here soon (I suppose there'll be a Part III to this...)

Let's be intense: let's talk about Death and God - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:41:00 +0000

As an admittedly rabid fan of Futurama, I have always wanted to do a bit of a tongue-in-cheek piece on the 'Stop-and-Drop' Suicide Booths in the cartoon series. I think we don't treat death with sufficient humour - and the few that do, probably do it more for the ripples of muffled indignant gasps than as a real opener to discourse on the topic.

I came across Terry Pratchett's video 'Choosing to die' via Facebook today. He starts off in the first couple of minutes with his beautiful and articulate manner, and I think there's something deeply intelligent and yet irreverent about the way he bumbles and cajoles the topic of Capital-D-Death into the camera frame.
I was struck by this image of a diminished author as a brave wanderer: off to climb a taboo mountain in this brand new world - but things change as the video progresses, and the ending, for me, was something I didn't quite expect.

I think I'll let you watch the video first - I couldn't watch it in one sitting. In fact, I had to take off and head to the nearest leash-free park with my dogs for a bit, before coming back to complete it. I suggest having a piece of paper next to you so you can record down your thoughts when they strike you.

Terry Pratchett - Choosing to die from Lisette Leona on Vimeo.

I started the video with this hope that if we treat death in an irreverent manner, there would be none of this clinging to 'Dignity'. I felt a lot of the rhetoric surrounding the rallying cry for people in support of assisted dying / suicide lands on this notion of 'going out with grace' and 'on your own terms'. And I thought, okay, if we can joke about it, see some macabre humour in this, perhaps we might start to question the Fairness of this Vanity (the Vanity Fair?). Yes, I do think demanding dignity with your death is a form of vanity that punishes the people around you.

I took note of the time and my reactions at various points. These are a few:

At 07:14 - Terry discusses this idea of a one-stop place where you enter, kill yourself, then have your body cremated or prepared for flight/ dispatch. They tip-toe around it for a bit before admitting that there was something 'Nazi' about an industry of/ around death.

At 25:40 - Terry asks the question: who owns your life?

At 27:30 - a statement is made: knowing that you can go gives you strength. I am impressed that many people make arrangements to attend the assisted dying centre, but never actually do so. The option itself is sufficient and comforting. And it makes me wonder - if such a procedure was made legal, would it too have a similar effect? Terry struggles with some of the things the person running the organisation is saying - particularly the idea of a society where anyone may choose to die on a whim. And I think he might feel this way because such a thought diminishes the gravity in which he's applying himself to the question.

I stop around the 37:00 mark. His name is Andrew Colgan and I contemplate not finishing the video. What his mum says absolutely breaks my heart, and I hope never to put my own mother in that position.

At 40:00 - Terry and his assistant sit like they've had the wind knocked out from them. It is a breathlessness that leaves your eyes free to roam around searching in myopia for some small comforting answer.

I write down some other times, but at this stage, I'm not recording any thoughts.
53.18
57

At the end of the video, I get a sense that it is impossible to approach death with an irreverence. It remains one of the few things still sacred and unknowable - and it is disquieting to see Terry's intellect grapple with the consequences of having such a choice. And I'm not where I thought I'd be. I thought an ideal scenario would be a system where the courts would make a declaration that allowed such a choice - like how parents of intellectually disabled women can seek a declaration to permit sterilisation of their child. I'm left thinking, this isn't something I support. I don't think it's evil, but it leaves me inescapably sad.

I want to say, 'Come on, there's another way'. But I take my cue from Terry. And I look at that expression he has when he's in that room - he's spent a sliver of time with Andrew and with the older couple - and he arrives at a destination that I claw towards: yes, there is another way, but this is their way. And I just feel sad that we're here and at this point where these are the questions we have given in to asking. Yes - dammit - we don't need to ask every question. We don't.

I suppose I feel this way because I'm moved by the people around the ones who have chosen to die. They say they don't want this, or they don't understand it, but they support the person nonetheless. But I'm not sure that's entirely fair or right for them. I believe time and the nature of containing meaning in carefully turned phrases diminishes our understanding of death so that we never really understand it until it's in front of us.

What bothers me slightly is if someone, looking at this video, then says to me - what if it isn't about assisted suicide? What if it's you choosing to get married to someone of the same-sex. True, it's a decision that is reversible, unlike the choice to die.... but what if the people that support you do so only because the love you, not because they agree or understand. And that bothers me. It really bothers me.

See, the thing about death is that you're pulled automatically into questions (wait, for me at least) about God's plans, Christianity, Divine Intervention, the soul. For me, every time I approach something like this intellectually (or, as rationally as can be, I guess, in a moralistic way), I try and frame things in relation to the soul. Eg. I believe homosexuality isn't genetic, habit or upbringing - it simply exists as a condition of the soul. You have a soul that wants you to do this. Simple.

For Assisted Dying..... hmm.. Let's see: I think the soul wants to spend as much time as possible with the body - even in pain. I think. It's like someone going blind choosing to look at the sun for as long as he can because there's no going back. This is it. And it's blindingly painful but this is it. Nic and I once had a talk about the dogs. He's said that if they are in agony or pain, they're in the end-stage of a terminal illness and there is no way to alleviate their pain via medication / medical treatment - he would suggest to me the idea of ending their lives. He wouldn't do so without my agreement (Thank Jonathan Best), but he'd want me to go with his decision - being the vet and all.

I just don't see it that way. I believe a dog wants to live for as long as it can live. And it is my job, nay, duty to help them do so as pain-free as possible in that situation. But my stand now is I'm not going to inject my dog with something that's going to kill it. It... wow. wow. I can't believe I'm here. I remember this conversation while Nic was in his second year of vet school. A senior that had graduated came over for drinks and pizza, and I could see her crumple in front of me when she said: I don't want this. I didn't gain all this knowledge and skill so that I can spend my days killing dogs. I've been out seven months and I've put down more than 60 dogs. And the worst part is - when I see a puppy brought into the clinic now, I feel so incredibly sad because I know in that cupboard there is a way to end its life in under 30 seconds.

I'm not sure how it's going to be when I'm actually put in a position as that - this is all conjecture at this point.

Upcoming Part II - The God of Mice and Men.

Oh, The Places You'll Go! - Dr Seuss' best book - as retold by Teddy Saunders and the Burning Man chook

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:04:00 +0000

I've been having the strangest first week of any year I've been in - much of it really, really surprising in a grand way, but also peppered with some silly lows. It's not anything life-changing or bad, but for some reason, everyone on Facebook's been posting these incredibly sad photos of animals getting tortured or killed in horrific ways (like children lighting firecrackers in the mouths of dogs etc), and I've been sucked into this cycle of just reading and looking at the photos, getting really down about the world and the news (in a maudlin teenage way), and just having to disappear into the corner with a fantasy novel.

This video made by some of the visitors to Burning Man 2011 is unbelievably beautiful - I love it. And the book is one of my staple favourites. This is the reason why people should have at least one fantasy novel / book on hand in case of dire emergencies... I am so grateful for this solid dose of joy. And the colours. And the music - the score is excellent. I'm happy, happy, happy. It is Sunday, and we're off to a bloody brilliant week ahead.

Find the Bright Places!

Hi, I am a pineapple

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:44:00 +0000

So the ceramicist at Unit 6 and I decided to start a muse-blog to chuck pictures in. But considering how tardy I am with posts and all, I'm not holding my breath here. Still, it's nice to plug into the arty-farty world and pick up some new skills. So, remember:

I am a pineapple.

And that Lauren DiCioccio's Sewn News is just madly GENIUS. I love her work:

Her website: click HERE

Veg Out St Kilda Community Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:46:00 +0000

Okay, this is kind of embarrassing - I've failed my new year resolution to post up a photo every three days and it's... er... the 4th of January. However, I shall pretend that since the 4th IS three days after the 1st (when I actually made the resolution), posting today still complies with the resolution. All is good. ALL IS GOOD (grrrr). This photo is from the Veg Out St Kilda Community Garden - taken maybe about three weeks ago? Not sure. It's located opposite Luna Park, so from some of the plots, you get the beautiful curves of the old wooden structure of the roller coaster in the background. I really like this swan man sculpture they have there holding what I think is a poppy flower? Maybe it has some connection to our Defence Force? I took this photo because I kinda loved the way this cactus garden was put together.

Okay, more from the garden:

Swan Man - oh wait. it doesn't look like a red poppy... more like a red carnation. which means.... 'my heart aches for you' - sheesh. so NEEDY.

Not immune to the proliferation of 'i-XYZ's, the garden and it's

i-Scary-Crows sign. or maybe it was Icarus Crows.... but someone changed the order of the letters? Hm, come to think of it, that's a bloody nice phrase: Icarus Crows... New blog title... anyone?

Clearly not in Kansas.

weird cactus tree thingamajig. I'm sure Nic would know the name of this, but... *shrug* he's sooo far away in the kitchen.

Kicking my arse into Summer Gear with the Incredibly hot Jonathan Best and Super sexy Rhys Bobridge

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:55:00 +0000

There's a video at the end of this post which you cannot miss.

I'm using this Summer Power Couple (okay, I'm not sure they're actually a couple - I'm guessing here) as my inspiration to start running again - Rhys (from So You Think You Can Dance Australia) is one lucky beast. See that photo above (taken from Rhys' public facebook subscription) - That slab of man fur wedged under his armpit is the Unmercifully Sexy Jonathan Best who, from now on, will be the altar I pray to on this blog. Oh Dear ~~God~~ Jonathan Best, will you please let me strike lotto. Oh Divine ~~God~~ Jonathan Best, please help me get through this week without having to resort to using public toilets for Number 2. OMG is now OMJB - yada yada - yes, you get the idea.

Clearly inspired by JBest's chesticles, I, the Sounder Muller, decided to go for a run (yes, I do realise that there's no connection between the two). I got about halfway round the damn park before lurching into this half-walk-jog thing with my fists doing these tiny T-Rex punches in front of my chest. Damn this constant boozing at Thousand Pound Bend (even though my uni mates have declared war on the joint). Damn the cutesy boat-like atmosphere of Ponyfish Island. Damn the 4-for-$6 packets of chips at Woolies. If it wasn't for my Devotion to the head priestess Ms. Bobridge and Lord and Saviour JBest, I would've backslid further and given in to my base instincts and ended up in the depths of a chocolate fondue hell.

Suffice to say, I'm really feeling the effects of summer: MASSIVE self-esteem issues caused by an overload of hot topless boys. Two days ago, I ended up on the phone with the ceramicist from Unit 6 (we both face the tennis courts). There was a beautiful 30-something mediterranean man playing tennis. Both of us were ooh-ing and aaaah-ing on the phone with each bounce of the ball that Nic kicked me out of the apartment into her place. So much for standing by me through thick and thin......

And don't get me started on the weather. It's bloody hot, and we only have this cute $200 portable air-conditioner that we wheel from room to room. I'm beginning to worry about my dogs going into canine Heat Stress (check for the signs here)

My gripe with the heat was exacerbated by having to pick up my sister's boyfriend from the airport this morning. They're doing roadworks at the moment on the tollway to the airport with the speed limit set to 60 klicks an hour. I feel they can't possibly charge a toll given that the service offered has been severely compromised (read: PAINFULLY SLOW) - a substantial discount is warranted. But to be honest, I don't really feel sufficiently passionate about this to mount a challenge. However, given my air-conditioning is busted in my car, driving in Summer is now officially a Massive Pain.

Oh Dear Jonathan Best, please fix my car, I pray.

But the heat sometimes gives us some amazing things - particularly in the Beaut Australia:

Bondi Beach Christmas 2011 from mikey trotter on Vimeo.

Ahhh.... Rhys and JBest. Ahhhhhhh...... can I say I'm over my crush on Ryan Stuart?

Oh yes, I owe you all a photo today. I shall post it up later.

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Well, we're here. I turn thirty this year. I get ~~married~~ committed this year. And maybe, just maybe, I might get to visit Bhutan this year. Or, at least, head back to San Francisco and Vancouver (probably at the end of the year). To get me motivated, I've got meself the three videos from Rick Mereki (featuring the dishy Andrew Lees) playing in the background, new boxers on and icy cold tea (non-alcoholic) to get my new year resolution writing in gear (yes, yes, I know I'm late).

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

This year, I reckon:

I will put on a pop-up exhibition along my apartment floor corridor with the Lesbian at Number One, the Ceramicist at Number Six, and any other neighbouring unit I can rope into it. I suspect some other floors may want to participate. It will be called 'See Thing Break Fast' or Seething Breakfast.
I will maintain my minimum of distinctions at uni. Wait. This is actually making me nauseous. I shall allow myself two Credits. maybe one. Argh. two? no, one.
I will endeavour to lose some weight and hit the gym before the ceremony, after which, I shall embrace my natural form as a beached whale. I know I have it in me to just try and believe in the rigmarole of exercise-eat-shit-sleep-exercise. Oh gawd. I don't even believe myself writing this.
I will get rid of the two hideously large desks in my study to replace them with nice, small desks from Ikea. Nice and cheap. I will also pretend to embrace Fengshui principles like the good member of the racial profile I am.
I will explore different leash-free parks with the babies.
I will cut my intake of maccas down to once in three weeks - this is a HUGE feat if I actually stick to this one because I once selected a house to live in based on its walkability to maccas. Yes. I am that sad.
I will buy more plants for my balcony and establish a little oasis where I can picnic and read with the dogs if I'm too lazy to haul my ass down to Carlton Gardens.
I will head to the grocery store more often with Nic. Actually, since we moved back to Melbourne, I've been doing it a lot more. I just love the grocery stores here. Even the Asian grocery stores. There's one at QV called Laguna - first, decent place in Australia to get Asian goods without feeling like you're in the ghetto. I dunno what's with Asians and being stingy on the decor - it's like, would it kill you to actually put down FLOORING? We don't even respect ourselves enough to let our people shop in comfort and dignity. Still, the damn Achar is just too irresistible to boycott ghetto-looking places.
I will use more sunscreen and take better care of my skin. It's funny, I used to think skin cancer was a caucasian-related disease until that poor Asian girl died of skin cancer. I then found out from my friend working in the oncology department that most Asians only get skin cancer in weird places like on the soles of their feet, beneath the finger nails - things that aren't exposed to the sun. Or something. I can't remember. Anyway, I think I need to just be moderate in everything I do.
I will rant less on this blog, edit more, be more succinct.
I will post up a photo I've taken on this blog at least twice a week. I'm allowing myself to post in advance just in case I hit hideous deadlines.
I will sleep more regular hours - even though I feel more alive and think better at night. Screw that. I will do what I want.
I will do more sketching and more writing, maybe even come up with my very own Zine.
I will complete my damn novel and see what I can do about it. Anyone wants to read excerpts from it? It's in the Fantasy genre - Neil Gaiman-esque.
I will meet more people off my blog.
I will learn to cook a new dish every month (I only know how to cook Chicken Tonight and Pasta).
I will NOT get a tattoo for my 30th.

Recycled Card from last year: Choose-Your-Own-Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:39:00 +0000

Hellooo! I hope your Christmas morning's proceeding beautifully.
Okay, here's a Christmas card from last year - the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure entitled 'The Cosmodogs Save Christmas!' Click HERE

Mythopoeia - the new myth of Caeneus

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:04:00 +0000

I wish I was one of those mad creatures that could spin incredible tales- Alas. However, the good news is that I like pretending that I can try my hand at myth-making anyway.

I recently tried to make a submission to this new magazine aimed at the Transmen community: Dude Magazine. I wanted to do a series on trans-characters from mythology - there's an incredible bank of community stories and folktales on this. And since a mate from uni introduced me to the Editor, Jez (at my favourite Thousand Pound Bend), I thought I'd try and pitch it to him. By the way, Jez is a pretty hot transman and he was recently featured on Dirty (Queer Magazine) - see above.

I don't think this particular tale was quite what they were looking for... so, oh well, it now lives here. I had to tweak the original story of Caeneus slightly - here's the wiki entry for the myth.

the second 'to' should read 'the'

Under 30

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 08:41:00 +0000

When I read the words 'Under' and 'Over', I'm instantly connecting them with the milestone ages of 18, 21, 30, 35... I'm not sure if there are any significant ones after that - I suppose I'll make 'em up as I cross into the 30's and beyond. But these words also fuel classical compounds that open to a whole other world of meaning:

'Over-come', 'Under-go', 'Over-see', 'Under-blind'(?), 'Over-and-under-bites', 'Under-world', 'Over-land', 'Under-sea', 'Over-react', 'Over-do', 'Under-pass', 'Under-dog', and the most import one:

Underwhelm.

I'm underwhelmed by what I've achieved so far. I read the Forbes Report on 30 under 30 in the various categories (this was my last year... since I turn 30 next year), and I'm like.... this (my life) is going TERRIBLY. Yes, I'm slightly bitter.

I'm no Danielle Fong with her startup LightSail Energy at 20 years of age. Having entered university at 12 years of age.

I'm no Daniela Witten, Associate Professor at 27 years of age - whose work sounds so impressively important that I'd sleep like a baby at night thinking of the good I'm contributing and sending back into the world.

Note to self: if I ever decide to be a parent and have a daughter, I need to call her some variant of Daniela.

Admittedly, I'm not sure I'd like to be some design whizz like Joseph Altuzarra (who, I may or may not have a tiny tiny crush on). The idea of playing with monkey fur is.... a bit... erm... repellent.

I'm no Jill Donenfeld - with the ability to speak simply into the everyday life and have it just turn itself into this beast of glamour. Though I'm not sure if I would have the balls to be a public figure like that and be on tv/radio etc. Man, if only I was a decent cook (I can cook Chicken Tonight and a really, really decent pasta). Glamourising the everyday is also something Kevin Systrom does.

So why have I achieved nothing?

Maybe it was my choice to do Architecture at uni - what a ridiculously long course for so little return (even though, I shall admit that I thoroughly enjoyed my unimelb education). Maybe it was choosing to start and give up a phd studying immigration detention spaces. Or going into government and building train stations. Wait. that one was actually okay. I got to really interact with some incredible design minds and produce projects that I believe enhanced the city and (I hope) created public value. A couple of projects have won awards (hurray). But the pay was crap, the politicking was woeful - I was perpetually underwhelmed by the people steering the ship and the way they would just throw away public money without thought. I felt sad as a taxpayer working there.

I dunno - the public sector in Perth really attracts a certain of kind of person.... y'know, the type that likes their lunches, and goes for the book with big prints (okay, that's just being unkind now...) perhaps it's because I've brainwashed by the Singaporean education system, but I thought a public sector job would be something respectable, that would allow me to utilise my public policy background, and manage projects that would do something and be something for the people who pay for the services.

Oh well. I'm clearly ambivalent about whether this is something to be proud of - and slightly terrified I'm coming across as incredibly smarmy. But I did enjoy working with my branch manager (until he was lopped off by some poorly planned restructuring.... later, they restructured the branch back to its original form). Now he was bloody brilliant. I think, if given the option, I might very well leap at the opportunity to work with him again. And having done the architecture degree, it really allowed me to work as an Asian gay man (gaysian) in the construction industry - I don't think it gets more tricky than that, and I'm kinda proud that I've survived so far.

Maybe it's because my parents were boring and let me progress through school and university so normally. I dunno. GCE O'Levels was a piece of cake. I think most of my peers could've taken the exams at 14 and passed with flying colours (ok... with the exception of Art... that really required the years of training). My secondary school years were just a blur of playing and flying on school trips to different countries. We studied only about 2 weeks before the exams, and still got A's. Not a single B, ladies and gentlegays. Even moving to Queensland and doing their syllabus in Brisbane, that wasn't hard. It was very interesting though. I quite enjoyed the one year of learning I did in Queensland - and the people I met. There were some sad parts like our vice-head prefect throwing himself off the shopping centre carpark, and my tutor died about a month after I finished school from a brain... something. But despite skipping year 11, we still got our OP1's. And truth be told, I'm not sure if it would've been very different if we were younger.

Hmm... but I don't think my parents had much of a choice here. I think the Singaporean and Australian education systems don't favour too great a jump in years as other social development opportunities are lost. And I have to agree - I have learnt more about being the person I am from the arguments and heartbreaks and bullying and the laughing and the cavorting that happened in between the lessons than from the lesson plan itself. I would've loved going to uni at 12. But, I dunno. That would not have been pretty - probably ended up being this freak everyone picked on. Or just... I dunno. A bunch of us entered uni at 17 and that was painful already. We couldn't get into any bars, we were a bit scrawnier than most, and it was... we felt like jokes. Like nobody came to uni to study. Sometimes, when I'm watching the series 'The In-Betweeners', I'm left squirming in my seat because it hits too close to home. I think I really needed those years of schooling to get to that decent place I needed to be to enjoy uni. And I really enjoyed uni, and I don't think that I would've gained as much going in as a 15 year old or something.

But I think my parents had a choice in where they sent me to uni.
It's funny. I used to be really angry that my parents didn't send me to a university in the U.S. or U.K. I came from the gifted education programme in Singapore, so most of my mates ended up in Ivy league universities or Oxbridge. And for the longest time, I felt the need to be apologetic about having graduated from an Australian university (though it was brilliant having friends study in these different cities because I could travel and crash on their kitchen floor). My mind started to change in 2005 when I went to Northwestern and attended this really crappy lecture by the guy who came up with Don't Ask, Don't Tell (hey waddyaknow, I even blogged about it HERE in 2005). That made me wonder if the quality of teaching was that different... I think there's a definite difference in quality of students, and it is very great though. And you learn, at the university level, more from your peers than you do from lecturers.

Then, when the GFC hit, and many of my friends were retrenched and lost their jobs, while I was purchasing my second property... it hit home that I was really fortunate to have been set up here. My mates in the UK had their savings demolished. The US... not that bad, my friends seem to be doing really well. But I really, really love the way things ended up, particularly how I'm here in Melbourne. I do think I've missed out in the peer learning because I didn't attend these fancy universities, but looking at the last decade... this really was a great place to have spent my twenties. Heck, it was bloody brilliant.

But was it enough? Am I doomed to mediocrity... and worse, actually ENJOYING it? What's this whole being-content thing? Ack. What a horrible word. I feel like the word 'Content' is me: 5 kilograms heavier, farting in my track pants, hair to my shoulders, with a beard breeding spiders.

Okay. I obviously need to blog another post because we can't have this blog entering the Christmas / New Year run reading like this.....

So bloody sexy! The Air Force Boys v. Army v. Navy

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:49:00 +0000

Bloody 'ell. Sometimes, you just have to surrender to the sheer sexiness of a man in uniform (or... well... out of it). So here's a bit of a survey of youtube vids as a Christmas Treat from me.

So this first video was deemed 'inappropriate' for use as a 'spirit' video for the annual college football game between the academies of the Army and the Air Force (which the latter won 24-14). The Air Force boys won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy this year (also beating the Navy).

The Air Force vid:

Gawd. I want those pair of shorts. My fave's the part where he's in a pull-up and he wiggles, and then drops down to wiggle with his arms extended. Whoaaaa. Why u have to be so sexy, mofo?

This was the one from the Navy (they won over the Army boys but lost to the Air Force):

I couldn't really find any Army Spirit vids I liked.
But this video of the soldiers lipsynching to Britney Spears is solid gold:

But since we love men who fly, how about more AF videos you say? Glad to oblige (btw, AF just reminds me of Abercrombie and Fitch - they've just opened a new store in Singapore, you should practice your googling skills for a bit of an eye-wash).

And then, there's them dancing to Ke$ha:

And this BRILLIANT response from the Navy. Hahahah:

Getting into the Spirit of Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:16:00 +0000

Hahaha. Have a brilliant lead-up to Christmas. This fortnight will be beautiful:

The Speech You've Been Waiting For. Thank you Mrs. Clinton

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Wow. Having heard this, I feel as if I haven't dared dream big enough for this world that is waiting for us. Here's a link to the transcript: click HERE.

Y'know it's funny. I've had conversations with older gay men in the past where I've pointed out that having grown up in a particular way, and behaving or believing in something for so long has led them to these preconceived notions of how younger gay men should operate... something that I have found limiting in the past. I dunno. Hearing Mrs Clinton's speech... I feel challenged: challenged to think a little about whether I dare dream of having my own family. For so long I have believed that it would just be Nic and I, against the world, till one of goes... leaving the other to wait in the quiet dusk. But I want so desperately to believe, and to not allow myself to limit those who are yet to come, those who would follow our path, and those before who would change their minds, from dreaming their own dreams.
So let it be.

Describing Venues

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:28:00 +0000

Just snippets today:

Our very own World Heritage backyard
where the dogs walk us on shortcuts to dinners at Lygon and manic weekends at the law library
picnic brunches and exams are defeated, the world passes us by
where on some dreary Winter evenings the clouds press their faces
to whisper softly to the curling feelers of grass
where on certain Spring mornings the air is so crisp
you imagine, for nine whole seconds, returning birds jostling on warmer currents
or twisting like ice figure skaters on the freezing tendrils
of sweet, Sweet air
where Summer seeks a carpet of flesh as prayer to an end to skin cancer
and where this Fall
we cajole an imagined future into being.

I would, you would, it be Yosemite
or the moss beds of the Great Bear Rainforests in the folds and puckers
near where the black bears, born with white fur, count time with the cedars
and oil lines hunt new foraging grounds
no pretty hydrangeas of the V&A
no weeping maples of Kyoto
but a giddy, giggling green.

This space. This space is a place that could conceive
and womb the word-thoughts of Browning
Grow old with me, the best is yet to be
I've lost and found afternoons and years in this place
where time ticks over so petulantly
a person, if so inclined, could sit at its knees
and watch their own breath drawn, and take flight
and burst into a powdered mist, slowly seeping back
into chambered lungs affixed with words, parlayed payloads of meaning
to be relaunched in 5, 4, 3, 2...

ah... hello again and welcome to the Baikonur Cosmodrome..

The Decision for a Deliberately Barren Life

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 06:55:00 +0000

This video below is devastating to watch. I'm not sure if it's genuine, but it really paints this horrific picture of what some kids face out there. Children have been killing themselves for so long that I'm surprised we haven't done something more. I know Nic really wants kids, and I wish I was that person for him... but for me, this is a good reason why I hope never to have them: I just don't believe in the world enough. And I don't want to wake up everyday sad for my kid, helpless. I know it's so selfish. I think the only time I felt I really wanted to be a parent was when I read about the albino African children who were being killed for their bones (I blogged about it here in 2009). They were like these endangered javan rhinos killed for some miracle cure... and I thought, yeah, this is what I want to do, this is what I want. Give them a home, love them. And then someone said, 'but why? if they became your kids, they'd just be quadruple freaks: you're asian, they're black, albino, the child of a gay couple... and they're gonna have aids.'

Work-in-progress. Just testing this animation

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:03:00 +0000

gif maker

I've been hit by a smoothh criminal

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:34:00 +0000

My first car accident.

'oops,' he said.

Okay, my title is a bit misleading because I don't think the taxi-driver that crashed into us last night has actually done anything criminal.... yet.

So last night, we were driving home and suddenly this taxi-driver just U-turns into us at a traffic junction. Nic is driving and I'm sitting in the car, we're a block from home when Nic looks to his right - towards this light - and says, 'Shit'. And suddenly we're jolted as this taxi crashes into our side. What is surprising is how my mind freezes for a second in disbelief. I thought: where is the whole my-life-is-flashing-before-my-very-eyes phenomenon? All I get is this...little skip in the soundtrack, and suddenly my mind sharpens to capture details. Witnesses at the corners of the junctions. Taxi hasn't fled. Nic's okay and touching the side of his head to check for something. I've got a camera with me. Good. I ask Nic, 'Hey, are you alright?', he seems pretty stunned. The taxi-driver hops out and he's talking to himself like he's on the phone. Oh wait. He is on the phone on his bluetooth ear-piece. He doesn't even come over to see how Nic is doing and instantly, I'm massively peeved. I tell Nic to call the police (because I assume that's what you do in a traffic accident) while I walk to the witnesses to get some names and mobile numbers. My hands are shaking. And they say incredibly nice words of comfort. I love them. They're so nice. Douglas and Rick. I take photos... first without flash so they're blurry (I silently curse my slow mind), then I switch the function to flash and I'm at it like a mad paparazzi.

He's cooperative, and he admits that he didn't see us because he was rushing to get home, so fine, I get it. It's an accident. The police say that unless one of us is injured or something, they don't get involved. Okay, I didn't know that. There is this guy approaching us asking if we need help pushing the car. I'm like, nah, I'm pretty sure it still works and we live a block away, so we'll get it there. The side's dented in and all, and the front's broken, the tire is flat, but the lights work so I'm pretty sure we're good. I'm proven correct. Nic and I get in and he crouches down near the car and he says, 'Hey, do you want some Ritoblahblahblah, I'm giving them out free'. Nic is quiet. I'm like, 'What's that?'. This stranger looks at me and goes, 'Amphetamines. You mean you don't know what it is?" And I'm stunned. What an Opportunistic Bastard. I'm like, No THANKS. Nic just drives off. WHAT. THE. Seriously.

In uni I used to be called (disdainfully by the PRCs) a Yellow Cab because, apparently, I'm yellow and driven by a little indian man inside. The nickname is ironic.given what happened. But I have a lot more sympathy for an Indian taxi driver wanting to go home, who makes an honest mistake (and hopefully doesn't lie about it to the Silver Top taxi company later), than a sallow middle-aged paunchy long-haired hippy GIVING me drugs when I've just been involved in a car accident. I dunno. Maybe he meant well. And maybe amphetamines are like panadol or something. for pain. I dunno. It sounded dodgy. And he had that strange, strange dangerous glint in his eyes.

Freaky.

I feel like I'm not angry. I want it to be resolved and I've taken down all the notes and done sketches about how the crash happened, where the witnesses are standing etc. But I feel like we really dodged a bullet somehow. This is how Alice died. A car crashed into her side. Her head hit the window. She died. We celebrated her birthday on Wednesday with her close friend in Melbourne, Raj, at Pony Fish Island. Raj had mentioned she believed that Alice had probably died because her seatbelt had caused injuries internally and she had bled out (Raj is a doctor). There are apparently very few ways a person can die so quickly, and she believes that was the most likely reason Alice had died. And Nic could've gone the exact same way. Maybe not. I'm not sure how quickly a car can travel when it is actually U-turning. And we were under the speed limit, so the damage wasn't that great. But it still shook me up. I'm glad Nic's alright. He had finally become a Doctor on Friday. And if he had flown back to Melbourne (Saturday) so that his hand could be injured on a Sunday... that would be seriously bad. Hm. yes. it could've been seriously worse.

This morning Nic said, 'I think Alice would've said the same thing as me. Shit. Shitshitshit. She would've seen the car coming. Been helpless. And the crash would've happened. And then she died'.

I didn't feel like talking about it, so I'm here blogging.
But secretly, I'm happy that the first time any of us were in an accident, we were in the accident together. Maybe I got knocked in the head too hard.

Firestick

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:09:00 +0000

You know when people tell you that they've got a real 'point of difference', I'm often a bit skeptical. But here's an example of one... a pretty face, a rocking body... but the real point of difference here, ladies and gentlegays, is the way he works his firestick. mMMMm. Welcome to summer everyone!

Get Up! Australia's Beautiful Ad in support of an end to Marriage Discrimination

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

I love this ad. It made me smile, chortle, and tear a little the end.
I think not being able to get married is like being on an incredible journey with someone, and never being able to find your way home.
Here's their link: http://www.getup.org.au/marriagematters

Elton John showcases his family in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:55:00 +0000

Elton John in Singapore with his partner and son. Source: The Straits Times

So this is pretty neat. I like how Elton John took the opportunity to showcase his family (particularly his 11-month old son, Zachary) while receiving a specially-named orchid hybrid. And all this happened in Singapore.

I've probably said this somewhere in my blog that I believe Singapore has one of the most vibrant GLBT cultures in the world - a lot of my transgender friends love that they can get married in Singapore because you're not required to have a birth certificate to get married there - only an ID card which changes with your sex-change. Yes, homophobia exists in Singapore - particularly in the guise of one Thio Li-Ann - who, incidentally, closely mentored our dead Alice when she was in a Singaporean uni trying to be a lawyer. This character was particularly interesting because she probably moves in the same circle as my parents. And had my parents missed out on having a (wonderful, magnificent, in-your-face) gay son like me, I strongly suspect that the things that would come out of my dad's mouth would be awfully similar.

One of the criticisms I've levelled against my dad is his choice to weaponise humour. My dad's a very charismatic talker. He's a short man, so when he delivers punchlines, and it comes out of this tiny package... it catches you by surprise. And then, you get to his actual humour... I dunno how to quite describe it. It is cheeky, kind of a more matured form of boarding school humour, but very clever - and I enjoy that about my dad, I like the way his mind clicks and plays so that it's not all work, or all parenting-parenting. But I've always said to him, 'Dad, you use your humour as a means of harsh persuasion. You make a mockery of things you don't quite agree with, thinking that just because someone else laughs along with you, there's some sort of tacit agreement - no there isn't.' Simply, my dad's just good at recognition something cruel and making some sort of half-mocking lemonade-from-lemons-half-mournful-bleak joke out of it.

Thio Li-Ann, who argued for the continued criminalising of gay sex, infamously described anal sex as 'shoving a straw up your nose to drink'. I'm trying to find a clip of this on youtube, but I haven't been successful. I do recall watching it - so if anyone has a bit more time, I suggest starting with her speeches in parliament. Here's the first bit:

The interesting thing about it all is that she says 'no one wants to be called a bigot' and how descriptions of homophobe etc stifle academic / public debate... .but at the same time, she doesn't refrain from saying that the decriminalisation of gay-sex would lead to paedophilia, using a particularly heinous phrase from the North American Man Boy club or society or whatever it is. Her comments also caught the attention of ex-High Court Judge Michael Kirby - I particularly like his response (HERE)

It's surprising that a woman who is so well-educated can continue to hold such force in an argument that doesn't seem so well-founded. She was supposed to be a visiting human rights professor at NYU School of Law but her anti-gay platform aggrieved the GLBT law student group NYU OUTLaw to the extent they issued a statement condemning her actions and her appointment. The Dean of the school, Richard Revesz, subsequently observed "the Law School categorically rejects the point of view expressed in Professor Thio's speech, as evidenced by our early and longstanding commitment to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."

Wiki fills us in on the rest of what ensued:

Thio then sent an 18-point defense memo to the entire NYU Law faculty. She informed the school of her withdrawal from the appointment, citing hostility by its community towards her views and low enrolment. It was reported that only 9 students applied for her course on Human Rights and 5 for her another course on Constitutionalism

And in truth, I believe that Thio was probably playing up her role as devil's advocate. I don't think that it excuses her push to criminalise gay sex, but it contextualises it a little bit and takes the edge off it.

I believe that my dad could've easily spouted the same things if he hadn't been subjected to the constant barrage of really, really nice gay people (e.g., my friends) who have sat at the dinner table at home with us. I think it's very hard to be prejudiced against people you've shared a meal with. But that's not to say he doesn't try and slip in a little comic barb now and then. I'll give you an example: my dad, on hearing that Nic and I were going to do a commitment ceremony.....

Dad: "Are you both tying the knot?"
Me: "Yeap"
Dad turns to Mum: "But there's too many cocks"
My mum elbows him, and giggles. I found it kinda funny and laughed.
But then what I did was to design this as my save-the-date:

My dad was suitably embarrassed when he received the card.

Who says we can't have the last laugh?

Two Awesome Videos to Start your Day

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:51:00 +0000

I received some incredibly good news today. And I'm super happy.

Check out the incredible instrumental version of David Guetta's 'Without You' by The Piano Guys.

And this incredible Time Lapse View from Space.
Beautiful

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space | Fly Over | Nasa, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

And to Nic: happy birthday baby!

A Collector's Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Geek Buck) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 03:28:00 +0000

What I really wanted to be on Halloween.

So I mentioned re-reading Nineteen Eighty-Four in my last post... I had read the book in secondary school, but I must've skimmed because the plot at the start seemed a bit foreign to me. But when I got to the part where the antique shop keeper Charrington reveals himself to be a member of the Thought Police - I remembered the exact feeling of apprehension and disgust that caught me as a teenager in my bedroom. I even remember the scene clearly - the black leather couch to the corner, me sprawled across the waterbed (yes, I had a waterbed growing up), the cow-skin rug, my cute little lamp on a make-shift wooden trolley I'd wheel across the parquet floor... my exam notes sprawled over the entire floor.... and me reading up to this part of the book going, 'WHAT THE.....'. ahh... the bliss of childhood.

Anyway, so when my uni mates decided they were going to crash my apartment on the 31st (the day before Melbourne Cup day), we decided to organise a last-minute halloween party. And I was tasked with coming up with the theme.

Big mistake on their part.

I decided to go with 'A Collector's Halloween' (which actually came about because of my thoughts on Charrington). See if you can make out what the theme is from the Facebook Events Page:

Do you guys remember that old movie... the Bone Collector? or the incredibly bad D-grade movie, The Collector......
....Well, this year's theme is Collective Nouns. For example, if you're coming as a caterpillar... the collective noun for the caterpillar is: 'an army of caterpillars' - so you'd find a way to integrate the army into the caterpillar. Or... let's say you want to be a crow (Like Russell Crowe), you can be a Murder of Crowes (extra points if you cite the Crimes Act).

Since M is coming as a Pirate, I suggest a Treasure Chest of Pirates... then she can bling up her... er... chest(?). Decorate that decolletage! (as you can tell, the collective noun doesn't have to be super accurate.... though try not to come as a Birthday Suit of Asians).

Of course, everyone was annoyed that I had made the party 'Educational'... but I thought since I added nice, helpful graphics, all would be forgiven:

A choking of Octupii

A crash of rhinos

A memory of Elephants

I was clearly misguided.
Because we had arranged to do the party the night before, it didn't give anyone much time to do anything with the costumes. I really wanted to be 'A Memory of Elephants' - but the skull cap brain thing I had been working on just looked crap, and my elephant ears kept falling off... in the end, I copped out as a basketful of snakes (it was supposed to be a turban of snakes - y'know, like those snake charmers in India, but I thought that'd be culturally offensive? maybe? not sure).

Well, my apartment is certainly a collector's er... corner.

Basketcase of Snakes.

I like Nic's concept: a crop of soldiers---> this idea of war being farmed. it really sorta fitted in with the Nineteen Eighty-Four concept of 'War is Peace'.

in the background: Basque Boy as a bogan of budweiser, a whinehouse of music, someone dressed as sam merlot (he had the tee).

a bogan Basque of budweiser meets a thriller of zombies

A tangle of musketeers

For some reason, I kept losing at Uno Stacko. very sad. very very sad.

A bagful of fear, a suit(e) of cards, a dimunition of bees, a laziness of lumberjacks(??!!)

'Taboo' (the game) in progress

fistful of lace, thriller of zombies, treasure chest of pirates!