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This is a movie that I have been looking forward to for some time. A new entrant in the “feel-good gay movie” genre, SummerStorm is a brilliant yet cheesy combination of romance, stunning cast, humour and wet-eyed coming-of-age.
The synopsis follows the plight of Tobi as he and his rowing crew prepare for a big race against the Berlin Women’s team, which they are looking forward to. However, to throw it all out of balance, instead of the women’s team, the boys are put up against the QueerStrokes, an aptly named all-gay rowing crew.
Catalysed by the presence of the QueerStrokes, young Tobi must come to terms with his overpowering feelings for his fellow crewmate (and cox) Achim. As the tension grows, Tobi, Achim and the others head towards a confrontation as fierce and ultimately as liberating as the summer storm gathering over the lake.
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Mmmmm… I remember this view.. |
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Crewmate Shenanigans. |
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Of course, much of my like for the film comes from my own background of being in various rowing teams for 8 years, for Sydney Grammar and then for St Andrew’s College and USYD. It goes without saying really that rowers have the best bodies out of all sportsmen, being lean and toned without being overly muscled. And, of course, rarely with shirts on or wearing just lycra. Just beautiful.
But it’s not just the rowers… the scenery and the storyline are simply …sweet. Parts of it are sometimes a little over-cheesified, but in a way that cheesy charm adds to its appeal. It is following in the wake of Latter Days as a camp, refreshing and empowering movie that leaves you with a tear in the eye. I have found that there are so many gay films and stories, including the recent Brokeback Mountain, made with a tragic storyline or character that leaves you feeling moved yet somehow upset. In many ways the movie is a tumultuous and refreshing as the storm after which it is named.
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Tobi and Achim. |
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One of the sweetest boy-love scenes I’ve seen. |
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Kiwi walks into his bedroom with a sheep under his arm and says:
“Darling, this is the pig I have sex with when you have a headache.”
His girlfriend is lying in bed and replies:
“I think you’ll find that’s a sheep, you idiot.”
The man says: “I think you’ll find I wasn’t talking to you.”
I’ve been wanting to update all today, but it seems as though my desk has been where everyone at work seems to hang out when they’re avoiding the boss. Classic.
So the past three days Adam and I had our little getaway down to the Snowy Mountains. What an eventful few days!
Climbing Mount Kosciuszko
Well, the trip down was relatively uneventful except for the awful weather and my doubts that the car would make it. We arrived in Jindabyne well ahead of time, so Adam had plenty of time to prepare before he went to have his professional hour-long massage that I booked for him a few days earlier. When I went to pick him up, the eyes were glazed and he was simply floating up to our hotel room, which was quite pretty, if I don’t say so myself! 2 split levels, 2 balconies and an ensuite spa bath. Absolute heaven. Considering it was pouring outside, we curled up and watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which I have to say is one of the trippiest movies I’ve seen. Wi-erd!
The climb the next morning though was the big event. Sure enough, I picked the weather perfectly and it was cold, raining and had a visibility of about 10 metres. The walk itself from the top of Thredbo was not what I expected… we managed to walk the entire 7km in about 1.25 hours. It was extremely pretty, even though visibility was right down. Lots of alpine wildflowers and mountain streams… the very start of the Snowy River. And of course, the odd patch of snow.
We reached reached the peak in driving and freezing rain, and managed to get this photo taken of us up the top:
Two Drowned Rats on top of Australia
I have to say the reward at the end was worth it… a shot of butterscoth schnapps and a hot chocolate chaser!
Bubbles! My bubbles!
Well… no spa bath can ever go unchristened. Or without bubbles.
It all started out quite sedate… with champagne, strawberries & cream, cheese and crackers.
Deliciously Decadent
Then, it started to get crazy. I put some more bubbles in, and pumped up the jets.
The bubbles rose, until
There’s a boy in there somewhere…
After that, I left the jets on, poured the rest of the bubble mix in, and went out to get some dinner.
When I returned…
Oh dear.
There were bubbles seeping out the door. I opened the door, and the entire room was filled about 1.5 metres high with bubbles. I tunnelled my way through to turn the spa off, but jeez! Talk about bubbles! heh heh heh heh heh heh heh
Bloody good fun! Needless to say there were bubble fights between two crazy soapy bubble-covered boys!
The Day After…
A brief stopover in Canberra on the way back to lodge Adam’s application for a British Passport. How exciting! My boy is going to be a Pom! And of course, a stopover to Fyshwick, which everyone knows is a haven for tyre stores and pr0n. In fact, the town consists of nothing else but. I was a little naughty and picked up a few bits and pieces there. Ho hum! *innocent angelic look*
The interesting part though happened when we stopped off by Adam’s house, in order for him to pick up his car. Whilst Adam was searching for some mail that he had left there, he uncovered a book on his father’s desk titled “Coming Out Straight – Understanding and Healing Homosexuality. *sighs* It’s going to be a long road ahead.
Hello everyone!
Of course, last friday was the big day, being Adam’s birthday. Unfortunately, I was at work all day, so didn’t get to spend it with him.
Nevertheless, he had a very good day… at midnight I burst into song and wished him a happy birthday, then gave him a little present, being a Swarovski Crystal beagle (pictured below).
The second part of the gift was the big one though… I told him of our plans to get away next week, down to the Snowy Mountains. (For you Americans, our “snowy” mountains get snow for about 3 months a year. I had great fun at work last week planning out our holiday, and booking 2 nights in the Executive Suite at the Jindabyne Horizon’s Resort. I drooled when I saw it… 3 level apartment with a spa bath, and two balconies overlooking the lake. Mmmmmmmmmmm
Then of course, the highlight of the getaway is a big climb up Mt. Kosciusko, which for you out-of-towners is the higest mountain in Australia (mind you that doesn’t say a lot by world standards). I’m taking the champagne with me and the camera! yay!
Well, I’m in an organising and filing mood, and considering how rare those moods are, I’m going to Officeworks to make the most of it.
Cheerios!
Gudday all!
On the drive to work this morning, there was a very interesting topic brought up regarding the amount of people who lie about the number of people they’ve slept with.
What really surprised me is how much straight people seem to get around! I was under the impression that most straight men didn’t really score as much as they said, but in a lot of cases they seem to be just as promiscuous as us queers! There were phone-ins boasting of 50, 100, and even a staggering 330!
Also asked was “how experienced do you desire your partner”, with a lot of men wanting a double standard i.e. they had 80+ but wanted a partner with less than 10 under the belt.
So here is the poll for you… the answers are masked and you can be assured of my confidentiality (pinky promise)…
Answer truthfully! For the record I thought I was doing pretty well at 25, but it seems that I may well be pretty inexperienced compared to some!
Hello everyone.
What an interesting night… after spending today at the races, I found myself wound up at Stonewall for the birthday of , who I actually never ended up seeing because he went home early. I had with me and his lovely boy Wayne, who were down from Brisvegas and needed be shown the utter class of Sydney gay night life.
I think one of the most startling comments came from a friend of mine who upon seeing us said “Hey! You’re married! What are you doing out here?”, upon which I realised just how antisocial / couply that Adam and I have become.
I often get paranoid sometimes that people tend to think that because I have a long-term partner, I’m no fun anymore. I remember when I was single… I’d forge such stronger friendships with people. Things tend to be more superficial with many of my friends these days… it’s not something I like, to be honest.
That being said, I’m not surprised. After the marathon of last year’s full time work / full time uni saga, I haven’t had any time until now to really do much with my friends. And despite all this, in the past few months I have met a variety of very interesting and seemingly nice people who I would like to get to know much better.
One embarrassing surprise was running into , who I had such a hard time trying to remember his name! You know those times when you see a person, recognise them and know that you should know their name, and get presented with a brick wall memory? Well I honestly just could not put two and two together, because the person I thought he looked like was meant to be in Canada !!!!! If I had been nice and read his LJ more, I would have realised that he was over here for the new years. *slaps head and waves hi*
The other things I wanted to mention is that LJ is such a fickle thing… the public nature of the blog media is that much of what I want to say… I can’t say because of respecting other people’s feelings and / or privacy. So much of my journal has been a “this is what I did today” kinda spiel. I kinda wish I could express some of my emotions, particularly in the past week where things have been very intense. Some people do it in the form of extreme vagueness, some in the form of poetry or song. I’m not that emo though. A big thankyou though must go out to the darling friends who knew that I was in trouble not long ago and offered their help, even though I barely told anyone that I was having issues. So, thankyou.
Well this sleeping pill is starting to kick in, so it’s time to hit they hay. I hope to hear from some of you... I am going to endevour to write in lots of journals if I can. I bid you all a good night, and hope to hear from you all soon!
Gus
Hi Gang!
Well, I’ve finally done it! In a fit of impulse retail therapy, I’ve gone ahead and bought myself a brand-spankin’ new TV!!!
My old TV, a 1974-model HMV (yes, you read it right), complete with false wood panelling and turn dials, is now destined to become the focus of my next project –> RetroTV Aquarium!
The new TV is VERY funky though… it’s a 68cm Sony Wega Trinitron, which I got rather cheaply with a 5 year warranty for $550. It is huge compared to the old TV, and doesn’t have bright fringes and dark bands across it like the old TV. Plus.. the concept of a remote control! It’s like magic!
Unfortunately, it hasn’t been all good luck today! I did something that no self-respecting gay geek should ever admit doing… I let a bit of spyware onto my computer. Sure enough, it downloaded all of its friends, and soon brought this poor old server to a standstill. Sent the anti-virus crazy, but the trojans soon took care of that (i.e. killed Nortons). So I have spent most of this evening manually removing viruses, and trying to repair the damage that it left. I might be looking at a complete reinstall after it somehow managed to corrupt the entire explorer shell.
Fucking Microsoft.
Hello boys and girls!
It’s 1:30 and it’s hot outside. I came home from work early today as I was feeling like shit… not sure why. Upset stomach and general wooziness mainly. So Adam and I are going to spend the afternoon in the air con watching DVD’s and drinking lemonade.
What a New Year’s !!! As you might know, I was working on NYE, so my big celebration was on the evening of the 1st, at HomeSexual. What a night!!! I can’t say I’ve had that much fun in such a long time. The atmosphere.. it was intense. You could smell the pheromones in the air. Over a thousand sweaty almost-naked gorgeous men. Adam unfortunately couldn’t stay the entire time as he wasn’t feeling well, and despite my protestations to go home with him, he caught a cab back at midnight and left me at the party.
I adored the music, and had a great time dancing my little tush off and getting very sweaty. It’s been sooooo long since I’ve just let go of everything and just soaked up the atmosphere. It was lovely to stand out on the balcony after an hour’s sweaty dancing and enjoy the cool misty breeze blowing in. The night ended at 6am, whereupon I went up to Pitt St and had a coffee at Maccas, whilst taking in the eerily silent city in the early morning.
One of the enjoyable things that occurred was when a young cute blonde boy came up to me and said “Hey! I know you! You’re Gus! I read your blog!”, at which point I think I had to blink a few times. So a big wave at the lovely Zac, who I hope had an awesome time that night. Drop me a line every now and then!
Anyway, About to go watch Flight of the Phoenix, which has planes in it, so that’ll keep me happy.
‘later everyone!
Gus
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