Food Fever

Having some sort of food fetish fit, and fervently desiring a feast of:

Fresh honeycomb, quince, rhubarb crumble, clotted cream, cinnamon, cloves, treacle, pomegranates, fresh figs, pancakes, whipped butter, blackberries, lemon butter, marmalade, dark chocolate covered orange peel, teas flavoured with exotic spices, fruit mince pies, hot crumpets, mulberries covered in sugar, mulled wine, turkish delight, all manner of puddings and custard, hot apple pies with vanilla icecream, fresh scones...

Think maybe this is the result of reading Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, a ye olde Englishe background, being away from 'home' and sickly and craving comfort foods, discovering a new organic food store and a general fit of whimsy. Have just caramelised some apples with golden syrup and walnuts to go in my citrus couscous, so there is a start! Yummy!

Is It At All Possible...

that the reason I have been feeling a little out-of-sorts since arriving in Perth, (aside from one friend back home dying and being ill TWICE, plus generally missing my drinking buddies) is that... oh dear, its TOO embarrassing to consider...ummm... well.. nah... couldn't be...then again, maybe I'm just in denial... NOT ONE PERSON HAS TRIED TO PICK ME UP? Not that I need picking up, am quite content here with my Significant Monster, but, well, I just don't feel like I've cracked a city if I haven't had anyone try it on. True, there be a bevy of flirty boys, but not the kind of boys that would do anything more about it, and its kind of odd to walk about the world with no idea of whether I would able to score so much as a dancefloor snog from the general freaky populace. It makes me nervous- even if I don't want it its nice to know I could still get it! No wonder I feel so displaced!

That said, I have hardly been anywhere where cruising is likely. The only dyke night is full of Lemons With A Twist types ('straight lesbians in suits'), the freaky night, Zoo, is mostly gayboys and straight chicks that I can tell, and the major gay bar, Connie's, well, I've seen more trade at Stonewall on a Friday-night. Arrrgh!

What to do?

Does Anyone Know A Pixie?

Somebody by that name texted me saying that they had found a mate's phone after Kooky, and would bring it to the next Kooky-- but was hoping to contact them before that as friend could really use her phone! Any ideas? I know one Pixie but have emailed and not heard anything back... Thanks!

Who Be Owl And Who Be Pussy-cat?

The Owl and the Pussy-cat
by Edward Lear

I

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'


II

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?'
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.


III

'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

DIRTY SEPTEMBER

If I play my cards right, you will be seeing me in September for Dirty at Phoenix, and maybe for a bit in the week leading up to it! Woooooooohooooooo!

Disconnected In WA WA Land

Last night I was at a friend's place and realised that I was the only one lying on the bed watching So You Think You Can Dance that had not shagged EVERYONE else present. I was oddly distressed and disturbed. This is not what I am used to.

And with this I realised just how much I am missing the comfort of familiar bodies. Those bodies you slept with years ago and still give you a cuddle, the ones that shared your held breath when you first had a flogging or were suspended, the faggots you dirty dance with in dark sweaty clubs, the bears you snog at underwear parties, the old mates that have held your hand while you panicked, or held you down while you got a spanking, the people who know how much you bleed when your head is pierced and have the paper towels ready, who have witnessed your drunkenness and your sickness and tightened (or occasionally loosened) your cincher through it all, the drag queens that have helped you with your false eyelashes or your body paint, the hands that have cut and swabbed down and slapped your flesh, the thighs and chests and shoulders you have laid across on floors or in spas, the faces you have woken up next to... the familiar scents and tastes and stubble-rashes.

So much of my social history and geography and identity is dependent on these explicitly embodied interactions. Its the way I navigate my way around the ghettos, a form of bonding, of networking, of forging logical families and political allegiances. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, let's shred each other's fishnet cocoons and run giggling arm in arm into the dawn light on Oxford St.

I miss the collective breath and pulse and body temperature of my tribe. I don't have any of that here, obviously, not yet. None of these people have seen me bleed, or break, or blush. We are distant relatives perhaps, different branches of the same tree, we are photos sent in greeting cards and scribbled names inside the bible covers, we know of each other without knowing each other. On a certain dancefloor sometimes I can smell faintly-familiar sweat on tanned hide, feel a brief tickle of glitter or the brush of steel-caps, taste the musk through the machine smoke and bubbles.

It is not just the people either, it is the place itself. I need to bleed on this earth, swim in its ocean, tramp through its bush and piss in its gutters.

My body needs to connect in order to make sense of this all, to find where I belong and who I belong with. I think I know what must be done.

I AM SO PROUD OF MY POPPETS!

Just look at this here interview of Jack Halberstam by my mate Gretchen in the latest issue of Cherrie! Wooohoooo!

Aram Hosie Named 2008 Pride Patron *WA*

From Out in Perth

The 2008 Pride Committee has chosen its patron, with the honour being awarded to Aram Hosie. Hosie was born female, came out as a lesbian at 15 and began transitioning to male in 2006 at the age of 23.

As founding president of the WA Gender Project, Hosie has been involved in a submission to review the WA Equal Opportunity Act to include the transgender community, challenged policy position of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade regarding passports and been instrumental in successfully lobbying the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to conduct an inquiry into rights issues for sex and gender diverse people in Australia.

‘At first I was quite surprised,’ Mr Hosie told OUTinPerth about being named the Pride Patron for 2008. ‘I thought, I’m too young, what have I done that’s so special, other than being kind of noisy about being a transman? But on reflection, I do have a long and active history with the GLBT community for someone my age, and so it’s really a huge privilege to have that acknowledged.’

And you can read the rest of the article, and perv at the photo, here.

Curds And No Waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy....

Pictures made from milk, using a 19th Century process it seems. Ah, such quirkiness to be had in the Land of Lacto! Check out Denise Ferris's art here.

* Update * No Room At The Inn

Now, just in case you were wondering where NOT to book into next time you be in York, WA, that place would be Wansbrough House Heritage Cottage B&B. Circa 1859 apparently, so presumably the views of the proprietors are heritage listed.

'Wansbrough House has earned a proud record over ten years of providing a restful, friendly, clean, quiet, top class and unique experience. Our website lists a random selection of testimonials. We are happy to discuss your special needs prior to confirmation of booking.'

Click here to read more about their rudimentary French and colonial charms.

Now, if only our mates had realised that being gay fell into the category of 'special needs' maybe this all could have been averted. Grrr.

No Room At The Inn

On the weekend, two friends of my Monster went away for a romantic retreat at a B and B in York (over here somewhere, maybe down south?). When they got there and the owners realised they were two men, they were offered twin beds. 'No need', they replied. 'We're a couple.'

Then they were told to leave.

Grrr! Will post more details here as I get them, including the name of the establishment. Not sure that they will want to make much of a fuss, but the bunch of passionate queer women and monsters in the pub yesterday were ready to start printing shirts and writing reports for the local queer press immediately. I mean, what the hell is THAT about? Refused entry for BEING GAY??? No idea whether it is legal or not, given that B and B's MIGHT be technically private residences and so not fall under same anti-discrimination laws etc. But I do think that the folk in question need to be made at least as uncomfortable as they made the boys feel.

Bilk It Baby

Turning milk into beer: Bilk

February 14, 2007 02:25pm
Article from: Reuters

GREAT news for beer and milk lovers: A liquor shop owner in Japan's largest dairy farming region has stopped crying about local spilled milk and started making beer from it instead. "We came up with the idea after hearing about surplus milk," said Chitoshi Nakahara, head of the Nakahara liquor shop on the northernmost island of Hokkaido.

Milk consumption has been declining steadily in Japan, and Hokkaido disposed of nearly 900 tonnes of milk last March due to over-production, according to the Japan Dairy Association. Mr Nakahara's new brew, "Bilk" - a combination of "milk" and "beer" - is about 30 per cent milk. It also contains hops, and the production process does not differ much from that of regular beer, he said. His shop started selling Bilk, which apart from a slight milky scent looks and tastes like ordinary beer, on February 1 after spending about six months developing the product with a local brewer.

Milk Jewels

For some reason parts of me are hard, wet, and both, from reading this...oooh... art AND milk! Whimper.

from http://www.news.com.au:

IF you thought mother's milk was just for babies, you're wrong - a group of artists has turned human milk into pieces of jewellery.

The Telegraph.co.uk reports Duende, a collective of French artists, will display pendants, necklaces and other ornaments made either partly or wholly from human milk in France later this year.

The milk is boiled with vinegar and the protein in it hardens to create a plastic that can be moulded and decorated.

Amongst the pieces to be featured in the exhibition, which will open at the La Cuisine gallery in Negrepelisse on September 13, will be a necklace with a pendant of a baby's head made from the human milk.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I just put heaps of new pix on my facebook. Amused me anyhow.

Red Rattler/Queer Mad F^%kers Tea Party

The Red Rattler Theatre incorporating the BLACK ROUGE Artist Studios (www.myspace.com/the_red_rattler) is a new not-for-profit venue and social centre located at Marrickville . Located in an industrial area, the warehouse space aims to be a comfortable, inclusive, welcoming, accessible venue for local community events (eg, performance, music, sound, film festivals, workshops, cook-ups, meetings, exhibitions, fundraisers). A small area upstairs, the Black Rouge Artists Studios, is intended to be offered to artists on fixed-term residencies.

The Red Rattler is run by a collective of volunteers. We are aiming to create the greenest and most sustainable space of its kind in Sydney. Any funds made through the Rattler will contribute to increasing our energy efficiency and implementing our 3 yr sustainability plan.

And as a fundraiser...

Facebook


Livejournal

Saturday August 30, 9pm. Doors close 11.30pm, finished very very late.
Location: The Red Rattler Theatre in Marrickville (near the bowlo - address when you rsvp). Cost: $20/$15 con

A playparty for women, boiz, grlz, queer men, and anything in between. For your entertainment:Adonis (from Ghetto Pussy),Glita Supanova (of Gurlesque), Wife, DJ Gemma & Suprise DJ.

Performing For The Camera *SYDNEY*

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 6:00pm-Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 6:00pm
Firstdraft Gallery. 116-118 Chalmers Street.Surry Hills

Performing for the Camera brings together a diverse range of artists that stage performances for the camera through video and performance works. The exhibition is centred on the desire to perform or the failure to perform in a culture that has been taken over by a type of performance hysteria.
Rachel Scott, Lauren Brincat, Brown Council, Kate Murphy, Anthea Behm, Anastasia Zaravinos, Liam Benson, Kevin Platt, William Mansfield, Tetronomicon, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Post. Curated by Kelly Doley and Diana Smith
as part of the Firstdraft Emerging Curators Program

'Perth Is A Cultural Wasteland'

Or so people had told me before I arrived here. 'Its tiny, there are no clubs, the beer is shite, you won't last a week!'seemed to be the general consensus, yet in less than two weeks being here I have: seen Pugsley Buzzard Watering Can do a ridiculous set at Feral Brewery; watched the sun set OVER the ocean; attended a film festival; participated in an international conference; learned to appreciate Swan Draught, and pints, at the Court, whilst cruising Bears; done two photo shoots; danced my arse off in a Kooky-esque club (Zoo), twice; gone to some sort of dyke drinks night... and next week attending Short Performance night/s at PICA, and many road trips and arty adventures already in the planning, and apparently there is some freaky taxidermy museum worth visiting and... I love it here. (And NOT just because of the Monster, as much as that helps.)

Life, and Perth, be what you make it.

Pope-Bothering

If I was in Sydney I would be at:

PELLFIRE on Friday night, to watch two naughty nuns and cardinals Bell and Hell do their thing on stage, and lots of other sacrilegious shenanigans. Same time and place as the usual Hellfire, down below the Gaff from 10pm or so...


BIG QUEER KISS IN AND SAFE SEX PACK HANDOUT
Thursday, July 17, 2008.11:45am - 2:00pm
Hyde Park, St James Station, Hyde Park exit
'Pretty much as the event name suggests, we hand out safe sex packs and have a big queer kiss in @ Hyde Park :) Letting the world know, all love is deserving and acceptable, and that whether you believe in sex or abstinence, safe sex protects people!!!'

NO TO POPE RALLY
Saturday, July 19, 2008. Midday - 4:00pm
Taylor Square, Oxford St, Darlinghurst
'A Coalition has formed to peacefully protest Pope Benedict's visit to World Youth Day."Gay is Great", "Homophobia Is Unacceptable". Protesters will say the pope is wrong: Gays are great and condoms save lives! So far the Coalition includes Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH), the Metropolitan Community Church, Atheists Sydney, Scarlet Alliance, Socialist Alliance, Resistance, the Raelian Movement, PopeAliceXorporation (PAX), and the well-known androgynous rights activist Norrie May Welby. Get involved! Come along!'

SideKicking

Is kind of odd to be someone else's sidekick, but can't say it is an unpleasant change altogether. Very few people know me here, and so I can get away with just sitting in a corner and observing a lot of the time, no pressure to make conversation or really even remember who is who, just the odd piece of small talk and a smile required. It won't last, of course, I am way too sociable for that, but for a while it is rather nice to be a relatively anonymous Monster.

PICA Short Performances

Now, who wants to come to this when???

----

Perth's short performance festival is back! Putting on an Act offers a unique opportunity for Western Australian performers to create bite sized original works. In past years, we have seen some highly physical and 'extraordinary' performances from actors, dancers, singers and those who dabble in audio. With a different program of short performances every night, each restricted to 15 minutes, this rapid-fire performance season has proven immensely popular since its inception in 1994. NEW: All acts go in the running for The City of Perth Award for Most Innovative Act.

Season: 22-25 July 2008 @ 8pm

Final 'Best Of' performance: Saturday 26 July, 8pm

Venue: PICA Performance Space

RIP Haley

The battle is over. The suffering has ended. God has other plans for her. Ashes to ashes. Thanks for coming.

The text message came on Sunday morning, after I had spent a very restless night tossing and turning without knowing why. I didn't realise the situation back home had taken such a turn, that she had gone into palliative care, that it was crunch-time. From then on emails, details, online eulogies and sympathies. It doesn't seem real yet, its remote, the people who mourn are at the other side of the continent, I have barely heard from anyone at all, and haven't heard anyone speak the fact out loud, its all vague and dreamlike and I won't be at the funeral and I've spent half the morning avoiding sending flowers 'cos then it hasn't quite happened and I didn't really know her that well after all I guess, did I? and...

Trying to work, but just faffing about, can't get my head together to do anything particularly useful, just stay upright and do odds and ends until the panic passes I guess. Want to be there, though have no idea what use I would be if I was?

Happy WYD

Truffle Piggies

Perfect timing, as I've just bought a new curly 'tail'...

Sunday August 3
Fungi Walk for the Mundaring Truffle Festival
Mundaring Arts Centre
Contact Jenny at JHaynes@mundaringartscentre.com to reserve a spot for this walk.

And The Mundaring Truffle Festival itself

'Historically, truffles have been associated with European epicurean culture, but Western Australia, and in particular Manjimup in the State's cool, green south west, is now at the forefront of Australia's burgeoning black truffle industry. For many centuries, black truffles have been growing wild in certain parts of Europe, particularly in France and Italy. The rarity and scarcity of these 'black diamonds' makes them very expensive. At between $2000 and $2500 per kilogram, they are the second most expensive food commodity in the world. The black truffle, tuber melanosporum, is the truffle you'll find throughout France and in parts of Italy. This is the truffle being grown in Manjimup'

Juliana Cerqueira Leite

Juliana Cerqueira Leite has a new website, and you should check it out when you have a wee while to play. The sculptures just make me want to crawl around in damp clay dirt, to snuffle about under the leaf litter and smell the earth...

I Think We're Alone Now

It is odd to be all of a sudden living in the pockets of another Monster, even the Most Significant Monster Of Them All. Wake up next to her, potter around making morning coffee with her, kiss her goodbye as she heads off to work. Then dinner, movies, clubs, pubs, drives, beach, shopping-- all with her. Instant spouse. Just add highly-chlorinated water.

Not that either of us is complaining, just being aware of the fact that we both need some 'alone-time'. To this end, I have already organised myself an art date with a new mate, and perhaps have joined some sort of 'feminist reading group'(actually not at all like it sounds- nobody has even mentioned Erica Jong yet) and started to work on a project or two with other people and begun making lists of fun places to go visit on my own (and how to get there)... Perth is full of excitement and adventure it seems, and I'm starting to get a feel for the place and the people. And I love the river.

Athey, B, LA

Now, I just had to post this even though probably nobody reading this would be able to attend, being based in Aus and all. But doesn't it make you happy knowing it exists anyway???

----------------

Ron Athey, Julie Tolentino, Juliana Snapper, Franko B
Date: Thursday, July 24, 2008
Time: 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Location:Remy’s on Temple - Art Gallery
Street: 126 W. Temple St. (near Alvarado) *Valet Parking*
City/Town: Los Angeles, CA

RSVP Phone: 3236610322 Email: praxismohave@gmail.com

Much appreciated, Julie Tolentino, Ron Athey, PRAXIS MOHAVE PERFORMANCE ART BOOTCAMP

Indirectly Applicable

The sycophantic slags all say, I knew him first and I knew him well...

- The Smiths
'Paint a Vulgar Picture'

Fetish Photo Comp

For all you happy snappers...

Chaotic Rainbow Men

From the Monster's desk calender. First one apt 'cos there was a big rainbow over the river when I visited her office this morning, and as for the second one- you can guess why it struck a chord. Does THREE DAYS AT A (fun) WOMEN'S AND GENDER STUDIES CONFERENCE make it any clearer why this resonates?

Today: 'we live in a rainbow of chaos.' Paul Cezanne

Weekend: 'I'm not afraid to show my feminine side – its part of what makes me a man.' Gerard Depardieu

Bees And Shrooms

Have been invited to pick mushrooms in fields somewhere as some sort of funghi-collection reasearch thingy, and to a talk on keeping bees at Symbiota. And a feminist reading group, and to present a paper perhaps and... and... I've been here less than a week! Perth seems like a good source of wholesome nerdy fun!

Oh, and the folks at the conference LOVED my 'semen and breast milk' paper it seems. Wooohooo!

Hand In Hand Is The Only Way To Land

I forget that the whole world is not a big queer ghetto sometimes, and that in the suburbs of Perth (or even Sydney or London or any other place on earth other than San Fran really), it is not always wise or desirable to look like two chicks holding hands when strolling or snogging on a street corner. Have to make more use of my pockets and start chewing gum.

Perth Water Crisis

The tapwater here is barely drinkable to my palate, with an apalling chlorine taste and scent that makes even bathing in it unpleasant. Does make one wonder where they get it from that it requires that many chemicals to make it safe for consumption...

Settle, Petal

I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: "No good in a bed, but fine against a wall."
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Fluid Meanings

For future exploration, and any comment you might wish to add:

At the conference today a woman gave a paper partly concerning the practice of suppressing menstruation through contraceptive usage. Which I do, with my handy little Implanon implant, 'cos frankly I HATE HAVING PERIODS which make me crampy and sad and bloated and weak as piss for one week out of four. Then somehow I started to conisder this suppressing of my 'most womanly' of activities in terms of gender identity, and being 'post-female', and body modification and such as the question time progressed, and was about to mention that I was one of these folk they discussed ('but what type of women are they? who would do such a thing? *giggle*') when it occurred to me that I also induce lactation, the other 'ultimately feminine' act, and that this has a lot to do with the same issues I suspect. Then I thought about how I actually enjoy bleeding and court it in certain contexts, and then, well, I really couldn't find a way to express it all in such a forum...

Then again, sometimes stuff is just gross, period, and my desire not to have blood pouring out of my bits at often inconvenient times and accompanied my many uncomfortable if not downright disagreeable sensations may have less to do with the patriarchy than the fact that it just plain SUCKS, and being all self-affirming regarding my femininity and bleeding on a pot plant is not going to make it any more pleasant or desirable to me.

Poop Barbie

'BARBIE, the doll with everything, has followed in the footsteps of her real-life lookalikes and got herself a dog - complete with toy poop "biscuits".

Tanner the toy dog poops out her toy food, leaving Barbie to pick up the toy "biscuits" with her toy pooper scooper.

The new Mattel set, which goes on sale in Australia in the next few weeks, comes with magnetic dog biscuits, dog bone, chew toy, and of course a magnetic pooper scooper so that Barbie does not have to get her hands dirty.'

Egg Benedict

Now now, not that I would encourage you to create havoc or get fined... but check out the Egg Benedict site for some ideas and designs just in case you SHOULD be that naughty!

Medical Update

Latest CT scan showed NOTHING abnormal, of course. So, still none the wiser re random pains but at least I don't have a tumour the size of a watermelon sprouting from my internal organs or anything else dire. Yippee!

Swanning By The River

Travel update: Flight was easy, arrived early. Monster waiting. Home. Rudeness and lewdness and much excited playing with new toys. Repeat. Fish and chips by Swan River, checking out Planet book and DVDs etc, sparkles and bulbulator and... Already cooked brekky and made coffee and become friends with the skinny kitties with the monkey tails and put my clothes in the cupboards and started to settle in to my new home and city. Off for a frolic today in some park or gardens or such, then to Zoo tonight. All is good in the world.

Trans People In Love

Edited by our own dear Katrina Fox and Dr Tracie O'Keefe

Trans People in Love is a illuminating resource for members of the trans community and their partners and families; gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and intersex people; sexologists; sex therapists; counselors; psychologists; psychotherapists; social workers; psychiatrists; medical doctors; educators; students; and couples and family therapists.

Trans People in Love provides a forum for the experience of being in love and in relationships with significant others for members of the trans community. This honest and respectful volume tells clinicians, scholars, and trans people themselves of the beauty and complexity that trans identity brings to a romantic relationship, what skills and mindsets are needed to forge positive relationships, and demonstrates the reality that trans people in all stages of transition can create stable and loving relationships that are both physically and emotionally fulfilling.

This important book features a wide range of relationships from monogamous heterosexuality and queer partnerships to lesbian vampire polyamory and BDSM from around the globe, and reveals the diverse experiences of people in different cultures. These real-life love stories are widely varied, sometimes happy, at times tragic, many times erotic, but always honest. This book transcends gender issues and stands as a testament to the true power of love.'


Published by Routledge, July 2008, In Aus bookstores end of August or order at Amazon.

Iva Good Mind To...

Seems this band are a recurring theme at the moment:

I've got a pocket
full of holes
head in the clouds
the king of fools
you've got a ribbon of rainbows
the sun in your eyes
burning through
could be I'm happy and sad
could be I'm losing my head
over you

well, you've gotta be crazy, baby
to want a guy like me
yeah, you've gotta be out of your mind
crazy

So if I'm dreaming
don't wake me tonight
if this is all wrong
I don't want it right
'cause you're the one sure thing
when I get lost in the game
once again
hey, I'm a lucky guy
without a reason and I
don't understand

- Icehouse
'Crazy'

Iodine Makes Me Tingly

Today I drank Iodine, and was also injected with it through a vein in my hand, and the IV stuff made me all warm and tingly, and then I was placed in a big machine to take pix of my inner workings... Between this and the hooks, cutting, ultrasounds, blood tests, pee tests and shit tests I am feeling just a wee bit like my body is not quite my own, and like other people know more about it than I do. It is strange somehow to be complimented on your inside bits, as in 'you have a lovely gall bladder.' Gee, thanks, I think. Ooooerr, I'd like to grind her organs then and all!

NoToPope Rally

Just say NO, kiddies:

A Coalition has formed to peacefully protest Pope Benedict's visit to World Youth Day."Gay is Great", "Homophobia Is Unacceptable". Protesters will say the pope is wrong: Gays are great and condoms save lives! So far the Coalition includes Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH), the Metropolitan Community Church, Atheists Sydney, Scarlet Alliance, Socialist Alliance, Resistance, the Raelian Movement, PopeAliceXorporation (PAX), and the well-known androgynous rights activist Norrie May Welby. Get involved! Come along!

http://www.notopope.com/

Youth Of Today- In Letters

From todays SMH letters page:
Thanks to Madam Phantasm for pointing out these letters from today's SMH:

'No doubt the laws to protect World Youth Day will apply equally to all major events. It will be great to see the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras benefit from this protection. I can't wait to see Fred Nile being arrested and fined $5500 for praying for rain.

Peter Pitt Potts Point

The simple fact of my existence as a gay man and an atheist would already be an annoyance to most participants at World Youth Day. Can I just pay the fine now and be left in peace?

Ian McMillan Imbil (Qld)

Damn - what am I going to do with the 500 African dolls that I've attached to crucifixes made from inflated condoms?

Dave Watts Clareville'

also

'"So anyone who annoys or inconveniences pilgrims will face a $5500 fine? I hope the State Government is prepared for how much this is going to cost CityRail." and
'Will it be an offence to wear a T-shirt that says "I'm praying for rain"?'

Youth of Today

From today's SMH:

'EXTRAORDINARY new powers will allow police to arrest and fine people for "causing annoyance" to World Youth Day participants and permit partial strip searches at hundreds of Sydney sites, beginning today. The laws, which operate until the end of July, have the potential to make a crime of wearing a T-shirt with a message on it, undertaking a Chaser-style stunt, handing out condoms at protests, riding a skateboard or even playing music, critics say.'

Guess my Suffer Little Children tshirt, compete with statistics of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, would be out of the question then??? Then again, there are some other ways to offend that carry lesser penalties, but may have equal effect:

'The Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said if someone exposed themselves in public, they faced a fine of only $1100 or six months' jail under the Summary Offences Act."So if someone flashes a WYD participant they will face a $1100 penalty but if they wear an anti-Catholic T-shirt they could face a $5500 penalty," she said.'

Heehee! Seriously though, SAY WHAT??? Does this mean I have the right to sue Catholcis for wearing their God Squad tshirts because they directly attack my belief system??? And is it only me that sees some irony in an institution renowned for its appalling record re kiddy-fiddling to be holding a YOUTH day???

Wish I Had...

More time to blog. But guess that would mean I wasn't up to quiet so much fun, yeah? Hooks! Barbie Doll! More hooks! Really short haircut! Packing! Eyebrow wax! And now, tonight hopefully, a cutting too... Endorphin overload!

Big And Bloody Hooks (5 Gauge)

Suspended, from, did Zoo... ARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH! Magic! Delirium! Eyes as big as saucers! Pictures soon!