Don’t you just love Sydney? It’s Sunday night and I have just been for a walk down the road to take some photographs for Yvette of “A Very Carpenters Christmas” at Shannon Reserve, near the Clock Hotel. As I was walking back into the apartment block, I noticed a group of young men dressed only in speedos in the carpark. As a car arrived, I heard a voice say, “do these boys know where they are going?”. Presumably it’s some kind of festive event… or it may just be one of the many sex parties which are held in Surry Hills? It reminds me of this one time (at band camp), when a friend and I were walking home and we discovered a group of people doing what appeared to be porno photograph in the street behind our apartment block.
I spent most of the afternoon at work covering the bushfires. While later this afternoon a fire threatened the historic Hydro-Majestic Hotel at Meadlow Bath, the situation has largely been contained. By Tuesday, the Rural Fire Service Commissioner, Phil Koperberg expects the current bushfire crisis to be averted, thanks to a favourable change in the weather. Nonetheless, the whole of Sydney remains covered in bushfire smoke, as you can see from this photograph taken at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. Thanks to an eerie red glow, the sunset was spectacular. Shame about the fires.
I also went to the cricket on Friday. It was a One Day Match between England and New South Wales, though the NSW Blues had much of the strength of an Australian side, with the inclusion of people like Glenn McGrath, Steve Waugh. Michael Bevan and Brett Lee. At the last minute Michael Slater was also included, replacing Mark Waugh who had an injured groin, which, because he had been fighting bushfires, had not had time to heal. It’s just as well Slater was included because he scored more than 100 and thus was an important figure in NSW’s defeat of England. But he made us wait for the century, scoring only 1 or 2 runs at a time in the run up to the century. And so the crowd became bored, resorting to Mexican waves (everywhere except the Members Stand), and to collecting huge stacks of plastic cups, forming large plastic “slinkies”, which the police confiscated, until the crowd embarked on a mass civil disobedience by passing the cup stacks through the crowd as the police approached.
I stayed at the cricket until about nine o’clock (just after Slater scored his century), coming home because I was sooo tired. I spent yesterday afternoons at Colin’s place (lunch and some computer repairs), and last night watching television (my usual Saturday night routine).
I also spent some time on the internet reading other people’s blogs and came across a funny post from a bloke who was obviously sick to death of spam offering him penis enlargements. He writes: To all you spammers out there, please read and take note of the following: I am quite happy with my penis size. Thank you very much. I am not interested in increasing my size (well maybe a little. who isn’t?), my hardness, my strength, or my endurance (maybe the wife is. what women isn’t?). When I shower at the gym or stand at a public urinal, I do not worry that the guy next to me is packing more punch than me. When I am “with” the wife, I do not pain over whether or not she is enjoying herself as much as she would be if I were to upgrade to TrouserSnake v. 2.0. My confidence is fine. Or at least it was until the spammers started. My confidence is not shattered, but perhaps there are some cracks appearing around the edeges. Apparently a large part of the spamming world feels that I do, indeed, need some help in the masculine equipment department. Each day I get no fewer than 3 or 4 adverts telling me that the power to improve my penis is at hand (pardon the pun). While I believe that I am doing just fine down south, I wonder if I should take advantage of theri easy and effortless ways to increase size and improve perfomance of my mannly hydrolics. I have my choices: herbal, creams, pills, and powders. I fear anything that involves gadgetry. Never hook your John Thomas up to a piece of machinery, even, or maybe especially, if someone says you’ll be better off for it. I used to go through my day without thinking about my penis, except for the moments (almost always private) when I needed or wanted to use it. Now, I can barely think of anything else. I walk the downtown streets wondering if the guy next to me has tried the latest performance-increasing techniques newly imported from Asia. I grab lunch and wonder if the cashier has recently pleasured his lady with his increased length and width! My infernal member is consuming me! That was actually a dream I had once, but that is between me and Dr. Freud. I want to go back to old days, when I was entirely confident about Mr. Willy. We’ve had a wonderful relationship for so long. I would hate for these spammers to damage that relationship by continuing to bombard my fragile male ego with suggestions to the contrary. I think I need a filter.
This morning I had an assignment to write, followed by the bushfire coverage at work.
Came home tonight, checked the phone and Damo had rung, asking me if I wanted to have a drink earlier this afternoon. Almost exactly twelve months ago we were attending “A Very Carpenters Christmas” in Taylor Square. It was an odd – but entertaining mixture – of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Choir and a Carpenters impersonation band. There have been posters around Surry Hills the last few weeks promoting the same event would be held again, but at Shannon Reserve, near the Clock Hotel, as Taylor Square is being dug up again. Obviously, that hideous design during the Gay Games was only a temporary measure. I attended the event last year with Damo, Yvette, Jacqui, Katie and some others.
Anyway, it was supposed to be the Carpenters again, albeit for a last-minute change which South Sydney City Council have announced on their website as Margi Di Ferranti, Sydney’s celebrated Cabaret performer will headline South Sydney Council’s FREE Christmas Carols Concert this Sunday as a replacement to the advertised performance by The Carpenters…Once more due to illness. Margi di Ferranti is well known to Sydney’s cabaret and music theatre aficionados and is acknowledged as having a voice to die for. After winning the inaugural Sydney Cabaret Convention in 1997 Margi was flown to New York to perform her show It’s Delightful, It?s Delicious, It’s de Ferranti! Her versions of Burt Bacharach and the Carpenters hits will have you Wishing & Hoping for more and by the end of the evening you will be On Top of the World.
Anyway, as Yvette is in Sweden, I thought I’d pop down the road,anyway, and take a few pictures so she could imagine what it was like this year… even if the Carpenters look-a-like band were not involved. And who should I run into but Jacqui? We had a chat and a photograph. Actually, I couldn’t actually stay for long, as I have a few things to do tonight, but it was nice to have a look anyway.
Not much planned for the week yet… or at least not that I recall, but I’m sure something will spring up!