Sydney Leather Pride Week

This week is the biggest week on the BLACK Market or should that be Black Leather Market, yes it's the Sydney Leather Pride Week.  

Thousands of men in nothing but black Leather converge into town for a week full of events and of course parties. 

Sax Leather on Oxford St is where one can get everything Black you need I've heard and is standing room only.. no sitting or bending permitted.

What to wear? ... 

"less is more" they say or is that "dress to undress" or "dress to impress" whatever as long as it's Black, leather and tight you wont look out of place.

Unfortunately my partner and I wont be attending any of the events as we don't have any black leather outfits, we only have a white harness with white boots and we feel we might be virginal lambs to the slaughter house or SLING ROOM!

Fair day again this year will be held at the Midnight shift on Sunday the 1st to keep the boys warmer, and with a number of events during the week culminating with Inquisition XVI held at the entertainment quarter (Dome & Forum @ Fox Studio's) from 10Pm to 8Am it will be one big week for all.

Of course the party doesn't end after Inquisition XVI with a recovery party called "Barracks" from 8Am till 2Pm, then it's home for a wash and a few hours sleep (refuel) before returning for "Indulgence" from 10Pm till you come down.

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Oriental Heat re-built

Today is a milestone for me as I took the step of moving one of my other blogs from blogger to Typepad, I must say it is very different but does offer a great deal more flexibility in its design. 

If you are a blogger who visits this site you may hear from me in the near future as I will be asking you to add me to your Blog Roll, your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

To check it out click here

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bleu's Spring edition

Urban-male magazine Bleu  presents "300", a fashion editorial inspired by the recent film themed around the battle between the Spartans and Persians. Shot by photographer Salamat Husainand styled by fashion editor, Antino Angel Crowley, the spread tells a tale of powerful masculinity, all while showing off this season's sexiest swimwear from labels like Nico & Adrian and Roberto Cavall.

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DNA Edition #101

Aussie Gay magazine DNA this month features Matt Born on the cover with a great spread inside.  At just 23 Troy is new to the modeling circle, well welcome Matt I am certain we will be seeing more of you over the coming years.

Born in Los Angeles he now resides in New York.

Photography by Troy Phillips

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Life Ball 2008

Whoever said that AIDS is not on the agenda for the current generation of gays has never experienced Europe’s impressive Life Ball, the world’s biggest AIDS charity fundraiser. Now in its 16th year and with over ¤10 million donated to AIDS-related causes since its inception, the event is held annually to much acclaim in Vienna’s Town Hall, Austria.

This year, Life Ball was space-themed and all about ‘Landing on Planet Life Ball’, a place where ‘Love is infinite’ and ‘Love is universal’. While the slogans obviously suffered in translation, they did not detract from their objective of providing inspiration, be it for costumes or donations.

Sharon Stone was again the headline guest this year, followed by lesser stars but those equally stellar in the celebrity orbit – Linda Evangelista, Kim Cattrall and Debbie Harry were among those more notable; actors like Alan Cumming, male supermodel of yesteryear Markus Schenkenberg and two plane-loads of New York fashion and nightclub elite also added to the rarefied air.

Whatever the guest list, the electricity on this balmy Saturday night was palpable. Tickets are highly sought-after by the masses – some 45,000-odd who cram the Town Hall’s front lawn and temporary grandstands to catch a glimpse of the costumes and chaos.

So popular is the event, in fact, that it’s even televised live nationally. Many of them vie for a chance at the few Willy Wonka passes on offer, but in a peculiarly gay twist, tickets are awarded only to the most fabulously dressed. And you thought Idol judges were fierce.

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Kylie Celebrates 40 years

Kylie is celebrating her 40th birthday tonight, she’ll be celebrating with an intimate dinner in Paris with sister Dannii, brother Brendan and parents Ron and Carol.

Last year in the UK Kylie was voted the number one gay icon of all time, beating the likes Dolly Parton, ABBA and even Liza. “I am not a traditional gay icon. There’s been no tragedy in my life, only tragic outfits,” says Kylie.

When asked as to why she has such a gay following Kylie responded -  "It’s always difficult for me to give the definitive answer because I don’t have it. My gay audience has been with me from the beginning… they kind of adopted me.”

And is it any wonder? In the eighties and nineties, when the Australian gay community was enjoying an amazing time politically and culturally, we took her under our wing and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Men for June

Chris Rockway is the sexy feature of next months MEN magazine, here is sneak peek preview.

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DNA Hottest Male Model Contest

Australian Gay Magazine - DNA are trying to find the hottest male model.  However this is not an easy task and can not be taken lightly, after all we gay boys have our preferences.  Do you like smooth or hairy?, Blonde or brunette?, Slim or Muscled?

To assist DNA photographer Fernando Barraza will be shooting tests with models in LA, New York and Sydney.

I met Fernando in the Gym at my apartment complex just prior to his departure and he told me of his upcoming adventure.  Here are some of his images so far.

To vote for your favorite check out the DNA website.

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Rove finds his Match

Australian TV talk show host Rove McManus often asks his guests who they’d ‘turn gay for.’ On his Sunday night show, he turned gay himself for a vigorous pash with The Chaser’s Chas Licciardello.

When Rove asked the usual gay question, Chas seemed irked that no one ever followed through with a decent answer. Chas then gave Rove his answer – literally. 

Watch the below video to see Rove cop one of the most biggest gay pashes we’ve seen on Australian TV in a while.

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Brazil's 12th Annual Gay Pride

MORE than a million homosexuals and transsexuals paraded in Brazil's business capital Sao Paulo today in what was billed as the world's largest gay march to urge an end to violence and discrimination.

DJs blasted dance music from trucks that drove up and down the city's skyscraper-lined main avenue as people in the dense crowds danced and celebrated on a hot, sunny day, some wearing wigs, masks and carnival-style outfits.

According to witnesses, the event attracted at least one million participants. Police declined to give an official crowd count although one officer on the scene estimated more than three million people took part and the Sao Paulo Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgenders Parade Association said attendance was more than five million.

Sao Paulo authorities and Brazilian oil firm Petrobras backed the event, which has become a big money-earner for the city and for tourism in Latin America's biggest country.

"This is the diversity the country wants, the diversity that we have to foster as a country seeking a tourist niche among the gay community," Tourism Minister Marta Suplicy, a former Sao Paulo mayor, said aboard one of the trucks.

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Brazilian Boys know how to Party

Gay Boys certainly know how to party, one of the feature parties as part of Brazil's Pride celebrations is TOY Party.  Chris Cox was at the helm, he is a renowned  DJ, remixer and producer that has worked on over 400 records, apparently he did not disappoint. 

The stunning Go Go Boys in nothing but hot Pink Shorts, later gave up the stage for circus performers both on the ground and in the air.

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Australia's first openly gay Olympian

Matthew Mitcham is brave enough to dive from a 10-metre platform for Olympic gold and courageous enough to do what no Australian athlete has done.

When Mitcham balances on the Beijing diving tower this August, like all Australian Olympians, he will be hoping the ones he loves will be there to watch him.

The gold medal hopeful's journey has not been easy. Those close to him have seen Mitcham, 20, battle depression, retire in his teenage years after physical and emotional burn-out, then nine months later resume his sport and build himself into the champion he is today.

Months out from the Games, Mitcham has taken the courageous step of revealing his sexuality to the media for the first time, in an exclusive interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

He has also applied for a grant through a Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Programme to have Lachlan his partner near him in Beijing.

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Stud Farm

Photographer Chris Hager brings us these sexy images of model - Calisto, these shots were taken on his parents ranch in Michigan.  The horses used as props certainly added to the sex appeal.
These images are featured in DNAMobi a new online edition of DNA.

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Sandro & Maykson

Sandro & Maykson have certainly made their mark in the photographic industry, this shoot is featured in DNA'S new online magazine DNAMobi

Twenty four year-old photographer Sandro Mantovani, was one of the winners of the Nikon International Photo Contest in the photo documentary category in 2004-05, in which there were more than 31,000 entrants from 117 countries. The competition, whose objective is the discovery of new talent, is one of the most recognised worldwide.

A graduate in graphic design, 25-year-old art director Maykson Busato completes the duo. The two are boyfriends and have been dating four years. Living the high life, they alternate their time between Italy and the UK, spending two weeks in London and two weeks in Milan.

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ABBA always in my Heart

Last night I watched a documentary on ABBA, and it really touched me, it brought back so many memories, great memories of my childhood, I remember when at home we would all gather around the television to watch their concerts. 

I was one of the lucky ones to have gone to their concert, it is still so vivid in my memory.

I guess when you are a preteen you really get attached to some things and ABBA I was enthralled with.  Still today I have some posters and concert booklets that I cherish ... 

What a shame the 4 cannot get back together, I heard they were offered 1 Billion dollars to do so.  I guess when you earned over 1 million a day why would you.

However could you imagine how many shows they could still do.  

At the end of the day I have my memories and my DVD of their concert which I am proudly playing  on my plasma TV through my Bose sound system LOUDLY.

Will never stop loving their music....

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Long Beach Gay Pride Celebrates 25 years

Over the weekend the sun shinned on Long Beach for the 25th annual Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade.  The theme this year was "I am what I am".

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Mardi Gras Party Was Almost In The Toilet

This year’s Mardi Gras Party was a total sell out success a week before the doors even opened.

The entertainment was world class. The scramble for tickets in the lead up was something we haven’t seen in years.

But according to the Sydney Morning Herald, a drastic issue with the toilets almost left the party up to its waist in… well, shit.

When the toilets in the Hordern Pavillion apparently began “erupting” just days before Mardi Gras Party was set to happen, the venue operators called in a plumber. When they realised that this was no ordinary plumbing blockage Sydney Water sent engineers over to see what could possibly be causing the problem.

The sewer that runs beneath the Hordern and the Royal Hall Of Industries is huge – big enough to carry waste from the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Football Stadium, from Fox Studios, not to mention homes in Paddington as well. Experts couldn’t work out what could possibly be blocking it. A camera was sent up the pipe and they found that the sewer was filled practically to the top with concrete. Lots of it. 13 tonnes of the stuff – an entire cement mixer truckload. In fact, the blockages ran for 140 metres in two sections.

Sydney Water were left with no other option but to install 400 metres of bypass pipes so that the party could go ahead.

A Sydney Water spokesperson told the Herald that the cement must have been illegally dumped by “some moron”. Believe it or not, all these months later Sydney Water is still working on removing the blockages using high pressure hoses – jackhammers couldn’t be used because the pipes are too old and fragile. They say that the cost of removing the concrete could go well into six figures.

Thanks to quick thinking and fortunate timing the party did go ahead. But things could have turned out very differently indeed.

Source - Samesame.com.au

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Australian Tourism must try to be more GAY

"Australian tourism is still not gay enough"... That’s the message from Joshua O’Neil, a leading gay and lesbian marketing specialist.

By not catering enough to the gay community, the local tourism industry was still missing out on a large slice of the population pie. Gays are on the whole high earners, have a large disposable income, and are generally free to travel without children.

While places such as Sydney and the Gold Coast are already tapped into the gay market share, the rest of Australia was still lagging behind when it came to being “gay welcoming”.

O’Neil, who represents Puffta Media, feels that the tourism industry should be more open to all groups in general, no matter who they are. More businesses, he says, will then “feel more comfortable about targeting [the gay] market which is great for our community.”

As we reported in (DNA #97) recently, the Sydney Gay And Lesbian Mardi Gras does not receive a single cent of either state or federal funding, even though the event generates $46 million tourist dollars annually. 

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Hot Brazilian Twins

A number of Gay Blog sites have been featuring the hot Brazilian twins Flavio and Gustavo Mendonca, I have managed to bring together the best of the best for your enjoyment.  

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