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Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Ollie hangs up on Kylie romance
By Laura Collins
February 05, 2007 07:42am
OLIVIER Martinez dumped Kylie Minogue by phone just hours before stepping out in Los Angeles with a mystery woman, a British newspaper claimed.
News of the Australian singer's split from her boyfriend of four years emerged this weekend when the pair released a joint statement saying their decision to go their separate ways was mutual and amicable.
February 05, 2007 07:42am
OLIVIER Martinez dumped Kylie Minogue by phone just hours before stepping out in Los Angeles with a mystery woman, a British newspaper claimed.
News of the Australian singer's split from her boyfriend of four years emerged this weekend when the pair released a joint statement saying their decision to go their separate ways was mutual and amicable.
The Sunday Mirror reported Martinez wept to his parents, Rosemarie and Robert, in France after calling Minogue, who is in Mexico, to end their relationship on Friday morning US time. "I still feel for her but I'm no longer in love with her," the French actor, who is in Los Angeles, reportedly told his parents. "We have been having a lot of rows. We have outgrown each other."
His mother was quoted as saying she and the actor's father were "devastated" by the news. "It is terrible and we hoped they had a future together," she told the paper. "Olivier was dreadfully upset." According to the Mirror, Martinez was spotted in LA just hours later with a mystery brunette.
They apparently spent three hours at actress Salma Hayek's mansion before Martinez returned to Hollywood's Chateau Marmont hotel. The woman was said to have gone to the same hotel a short time later. The night before, he was seen having dinner with Sarai Givati, the Israeli model he was photographed with in Paris in November. On Wednesday night, he reportedly met Lost star Michelle Rodriguez, with whom he has been seen in LA recently.
An unnamed source told the paper it was as though Martinez had tried to provoke Minogue into dumping him "to avoid being labelled 'the cad who dumped Kylie after her cancer struggle'". "Now, he has dumped her - down a telephone line," the source said.
"He couldn't even do it face-to-face."
The story conflicts with that of another British tabloid, the News of the World, which claimed it was Kylie who dumped Martinez. Minogue, who has just completed her comeback tour after recovering from breast cancer, is due in Britain on Tuesday for the launch of an exhibition of costumes, accessories and photographs celebrating her career at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
For a woman who has made an art of controlling her own destiny, it was a surprisingly haphazard break-up strategy.
But then it is safe to say that this time last week Kylie Minogue did not envisage waking so publicly and unequivocally single.
That was only ever Plan B.
Six days ago, when she was photographed alone in the Palladian nightclub in Acapulco the prospect of singledom was only a notion dangled misguidedly before her then-boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez.
Kylie, 38, was supposedly taking a much-needed winter break, while 41-year-old Olivier was in Los Angeles promoting his latest film Blood And Chocolate.
As the pictures of Kylie dropped on the screens of picture agencies across US, her message was clear: "Olivier, if you want to be with me, come and get me".
It was desperation disguised as bravado. And it did not work. It was only then that Plan B swung into action. Late on Friday the couple issued a cooly phrased joint statement that their relationship was over.
The decision was described as "mutual and amicable". More apt, perhaps, would have been "inevitable".
However much sadness accompanies the end of this four-year relationship - which encompassed the awful reality of Kylie's breast cancer and 18 months of exhausting treatment - the simple fact is that, for Olivier at least, the split is a relief.
And the reality that has come crashing down on Kylie is not some belated recognition that she and Olivier were profoundly incompatible. Rather it is the realisation that he has fallen for somebody else.
Sarai Givati, 24, is the woman in question. And the alleged relationship between the Israeli actress and Olivier pre-dates the first photos of them together in December.
Then, when Olivier squired her around Paris for three days and, she blushingly recounted, "three wonderful nights", Kylie responded by wearing a leather jacket with Olivier's picture emblazoned on the back during the final concert of her Australian comeback tour in November.
It was a gesture that backfired badly, serving only to crystallise the difference between the two: Kylie's mode of communication with her lover was so very public, whereas, according to one close childhood friend: "Ollie has always been uncomfortable with that side of fame.
"He has no problem being recognised but he's never wanted to talk about his relationships in public."
He was, it seems, as challenged and intrigued by Sarai as he was frustrated by Kylie. The friend explains: "Kylie thought he was the one and adored him. But he's been irritated by her efforts to portray him as a family man who wants to go home to his pipe and slippers every night. That's not him at all."
Blunt sentiments perhaps.
But Kylie and Olivier's incompatibility has always been a source of concern to her friends and family and bemusement to his.
In truth, the couple who began dating in February 2003 have been drifting apart for a long time. Indeed, after the first flurry of passion, Olivier seemed in danger of straying and was linked with Angelina Jolie.
According to one source, Olivier had planned to end their relationship before her cancer diagnosis in May 2005 but felt unable to abandon her during that time.
"He thought it important to help her through her illness," the source said.
"But they were just never together. Even when Kylie turned up in Paris you never saw her with Ollie."
Against this backdrop, the hammer blow was dealt to Kylie's hopes of a future with Olivier when he found Sarai.
Kylie's desire for a heart-to-heart was only satisfied by her abandoning plans for a family Christmas in Australia and boarding a flight to Paris to be with him. But she was too late.
Pictures showing Olivier enjoying a kiss and dinner with actress Michelle Rodriguez last weekend were, it seems, simply a smokescreen to protect his fledgling relationship with Sarai, suggesting that he possesses a sensitivity to Sarai's feelings.
Little wonder then that Kylie's parents, Ron and Carol, have long voiced their reservations over Olivier.
Their anxieties reached a new pitch when consideration for Olivier became a key factor in Kylie's decisions about her cancer treatment.
A family friend explained: "When Ollie stayed at the family home after she came home from surgery, everything had to revolve around him. He went back to Europe saying he was sick of hospitals. Then he insisted Kylie continued treatment in Paris. It caused a family rift ... but Kylie did what he wanted.
"Her parents felt Olivier had too strong a hold over Kylie and questioned his commitment to her. They are sad that Kylie now has to deal with a broken heart on top of everything else, but they are relieved that the public humiliation is over."
They are not alone and nor, though she may struggle to feel convinced of the fact right now, is Kylie.
Minogue has no immediate plans to return home to Australia following her split with her boyfriend, according to a spokesman. The singer and French actor Olivier Martinez have officially confirmed they are no longer a couple. A joint statement released on behalf of the pair said the decision to separate was mutual and added they remained "very close friends".
Last November Minogue told Elle magazine: "Olli was there all the time, helping with the practical stuff and being protective. I don't like to say too much in public about Olivier as he's a very private person, but I will say that he was incredible. "He didn't hesitate in cancelling work and putting projects on hold so he could be with me. He's the most honourable man I have ever met."
- with Press Association
For a woman who has made an art of controlling her own destiny, it was a surprisingly haphazard break-up strategy.
But then it is safe to say that this time last week Kylie Minogue did not envisage waking so publicly and unequivocally single.
That was only ever Plan B.
Six days ago, when she was photographed alone in the Palladian nightclub in Acapulco the prospect of singledom was only a notion dangled misguidedly before her then-boyfriend, French actor Olivier Martinez.
Kylie, 38, was supposedly taking a much-needed winter break, while 41-year-old Olivier was in Los Angeles promoting his latest film Blood And Chocolate.
As the pictures of Kylie dropped on the screens of picture agencies across US, her message was clear: "Olivier, if you want to be with me, come and get me".
It was desperation disguised as bravado. And it did not work. It was only then that Plan B swung into action. Late on Friday the couple issued a cooly phrased joint statement that their relationship was over.
The decision was described as "mutual and amicable". More apt, perhaps, would have been "inevitable".
However much sadness accompanies the end of this four-year relationship - which encompassed the awful reality of Kylie's breast cancer and 18 months of exhausting treatment - the simple fact is that, for Olivier at least, the split is a relief.
And the reality that has come crashing down on Kylie is not some belated recognition that she and Olivier were profoundly incompatible. Rather it is the realisation that he has fallen for somebody else.
Sarai Givati, 24, is the woman in question. And the alleged relationship between the Israeli actress and Olivier pre-dates the first photos of them together in December.
Then, when Olivier squired her around Paris for three days and, she blushingly recounted, "three wonderful nights", Kylie responded by wearing a leather jacket with Olivier's picture emblazoned on the back during the final concert of her Australian comeback tour in November.
It was a gesture that backfired badly, serving only to crystallise the difference between the two: Kylie's mode of communication with her lover was so very public, whereas, according to one close childhood friend: "Ollie has always been uncomfortable with that side of fame.
"He has no problem being recognised but he's never wanted to talk about his relationships in public."
He was, it seems, as challenged and intrigued by Sarai as he was frustrated by Kylie. The friend explains: "Kylie thought he was the one and adored him. But he's been irritated by her efforts to portray him as a family man who wants to go home to his pipe and slippers every night. That's not him at all."
Blunt sentiments perhaps.
But Kylie and Olivier's incompatibility has always been a source of concern to her friends and family and bemusement to his.
In truth, the couple who began dating in February 2003 have been drifting apart for a long time. Indeed, after the first flurry of passion, Olivier seemed in danger of straying and was linked with Angelina Jolie.
According to one source, Olivier had planned to end their relationship before her cancer diagnosis in May 2005 but felt unable to abandon her during that time.
"He thought it important to help her through her illness," the source said.
"But they were just never together. Even when Kylie turned up in Paris you never saw her with Ollie."
Against this backdrop, the hammer blow was dealt to Kylie's hopes of a future with Olivier when he found Sarai.
Kylie's desire for a heart-to-heart was only satisfied by her abandoning plans for a family Christmas in Australia and boarding a flight to Paris to be with him. But she was too late.
Pictures showing Olivier enjoying a kiss and dinner with actress Michelle Rodriguez last weekend were, it seems, simply a smokescreen to protect his fledgling relationship with Sarai, suggesting that he possesses a sensitivity to Sarai's feelings.
Little wonder then that Kylie's parents, Ron and Carol, have long voiced their reservations over Olivier.
Their anxieties reached a new pitch when consideration for Olivier became a key factor in Kylie's decisions about her cancer treatment.
A family friend explained: "When Ollie stayed at the family home after she came home from surgery, everything had to revolve around him. He went back to Europe saying he was sick of hospitals. Then he insisted Kylie continued treatment in Paris. It caused a family rift ... but Kylie did what he wanted.
"Her parents felt Olivier had too strong a hold over Kylie and questioned his commitment to her. They are sad that Kylie now has to deal with a broken heart on top of everything else, but they are relieved that the public humiliation is over."
They are not alone and nor, though she may struggle to feel convinced of the fact right now, is Kylie.
Minogue has no immediate plans to return home to Australia following her split with her boyfriend, according to a spokesman. The singer and French actor Olivier Martinez have officially confirmed they are no longer a couple. A joint statement released on behalf of the pair said the decision to separate was mutual and added they remained "very close friends".
Last November Minogue told Elle magazine: "Olli was there all the time, helping with the practical stuff and being protective. I don't like to say too much in public about Olivier as he's a very private person, but I will say that he was incredible. "He didn't hesitate in cancelling work and putting projects on hold so he could be with me. He's the most honourable man I have ever met."
- with Press Association
Tuesday, 20 February 2007
Mardi Gras organisers accused of blocking rival online groups out of Parade
The Sydney Mardi Gras organisers are accused of locking rival online groups out of the upcoming parade and Fair Day. The Australian federal government is considering a plan for a new A$10 million sexual health campaign targeting gay men. In Britain, Catholic adoption agencies will not be exempted from anti-discrimination laws.
Sydney Mardi Gras sponsorship row: business practice anti-community?
A row over a sponsorship deal of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has erupted after a lesbian dating website The Pink Sofa accused organisers and Gaydar, an international dating web site, for locking rival online groups out of the Mardi Gras parade on March 3 and the festival's Fair Day on February 18.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Liz James from The Pink Sofa said that her members have been refused permission to take part in the parade and have been rejected from the Fair Day, despite having a stall there for the last six years.
New Mardi Gras, the organisation that was formed to run the 29-year-old festival after the previous company went into receivership in March 2002, confirmed the commercial agreement with Gaydar prevented The Pink Sofa being involved in Fair Day and the parade.
James warned that the inclusive spirit of the event has been betrayed by organisers who are forsaking the community ethos the festival was meant to represent."I believe Mardi Gras is a celebration of everybody, but this business practice is anti-community.
"Mardi Gras is a community event, it's all about inclusion, but this excludes people from the community. It doesn't belong to anyone in particular; it belongs to all gays and lesbians.She add, "If they continue with this practice they have lost touch with the community and what the event is all about.”
Her argument is dismissed by Mardi Gras chairman Marcus Bourget who countered that the festival does not exclude any individuals only competing commercial organisations such as the for-profit company James’ operates.
Bourget explained that the event with an annual turnover of A$3 million is a business which needs sponsors to survive like any other commercial event."If not for our sponsors there would be no Mardi Gras.
We have to provide a fair deal for our sponsors.”Gaydar's involvement as the event’s first presenting sponsor last year turned a 2004-05 loss into a A$150,000 (US$115,560) profit for 2005-6.According to the Herald, organisers had reversed their initial decision to leave out state tourism boards from Queensland and Tasmania at Fair Day due to an agreement with Tourism NSW.
The move follows intervention from Vincent Cooper of the International Gay and Lesbian Tourism Association who said commercial exclusion was not appropriate for Mardi Gras."
They need to be a little more sensitive when signing up these sponsorship agreements," Cooper said. "I can understand if Ford sponsored it and Toyota wanted to be involved, but when they exclude gay and lesbian businesses like Pink Sofa, it's just not on.
"The month-long Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras festival begins this Saturday, Feb 3 and will culminate in a spectacular street parade and party on Mar 3. For more information, visit http://www.mardigras.org.au/.
Mardi Gras 07 season about to commence..
The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras has grown from a local gay pride event to being arguably the most spectacular gay and lesbian event in the world.
Just recently Conde Nast listed Sydney's Mardi Gras as amongst the 10 most spectacular costume events. It is right up there with Venice and Rio.
2007 marks the 29th year and it promises to be one of the biggest and best yet.
Just recently Conde Nast listed Sydney's Mardi Gras as amongst the 10 most spectacular costume events. It is right up there with Venice and Rio.
2007 marks the 29th year and it promises to be one of the biggest and best yet.
There will be a month of high quality arts, sporting and social events culminating in the world famous Parade and Party.
Here are some of the key dates for your diaries.
2nd February- Red Carpet Opening
3rd February- Flash Mob Launch
18th February - Fair Day
24th February - Pool party
3rd March - Parade and Party
4th Toy Box Luna Park (You should not miss this Party)
Full details of the almost 100 different events taking place during Mardi Gras are listed at the Mardi Gras 2007 Festival Season Guide.
You can pick up a copy of the Guide in gay venues right across Australia as well as other cafes, bars and arts venues in urban centres.
An easy way to review everything that's going on via this website is simply by using our online Calendar.
Hold on to your hats. There's not long to go now!
2nd February- Red Carpet Opening
3rd February- Flash Mob Launch
18th February - Fair Day
24th February - Pool party
3rd March - Parade and Party
4th Toy Box Luna Park (You should not miss this Party)
Full details of the almost 100 different events taking place during Mardi Gras are listed at the Mardi Gras 2007 Festival Season Guide.
You can pick up a copy of the Guide in gay venues right across Australia as well as other cafes, bars and arts venues in urban centres.
An easy way to review everything that's going on via this website is simply by using our online Calendar.
Hold on to your hats. There's not long to go now!
I'll be heading to Sydney next week for a month with camera in hand, I will endeavour to publish my photo's and stories of all my experiences during this party month.
Read More......
Hot boys of the week
I came accross some more pictures of this very sexy beefy man and thought to myself, I must share them with the viewers out their in blogger world.
half of singapore youths find homosexuality ''acceptable,'' says survey
In the city-state which has a thriving gay scene despite gay sex being outlawed, half of the 800 survey respondents aged 15-29 found homosexuality acceptable.
Exactly half of the 800 young people asked found homosexuality acceptable, according to a survey of young people aged 15-29. Conducted by students from Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Business over two months, 42 per cent of the respondents who found homosexuality unacceptable although no further details are available.
Containing only one question on homosexuality, the survey respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with he statement, "I find homosexuality acceptable."Giving their views on various aspects of life, 45 per cent of the respondents disapproved of premarital sex while 46 per cent found it acceptable. More than half of respondents survey said that they would migrate overseas if they had the option.
Can you see me?
Can you see me sitting at my outdoor setting relaxing with a group of close friends eating beautiful food and drinking a lovely bottle of local wine, no?
Can you see me lying on my comfy outdoor lounge, no?
Can you see me relaxing in my spa as the day becomes night, no?
No.... really have another look, oh no need I have been so busy over the past week that's why I have not written any new stories. To tell you the truth I almost gave up my blog, I have been downsizing, throwing out clothes, shoes photos, yes I think I have thrown out about 10,000 photographs.
Have you ever moved, I have a few times, I have lived in North Queensland, North Victoria and Adelaide, moving is one thing but down sizing for an apartment is a challenge but I am looking forward to it, no more lawn mowing, rose cutting, weeding, hedge cutting and cleaning the spa after a party.
Read More......
Sydney Mardi Gras 2007
Organisers of this year’s Mardi Gras parade Marching Group will turn to ancient history to make a spectacular statement on modern political struggles.
Historical themes are nothing new for the iconic Oxford Street event, but the 2007 Marching Group will go much further back than usual with its Greek Love entry.
The Marching Group will feature 100 people between two floats, accompanied by a “huge” Trojan horse.
“It’s a bit of a battle cry,” Marching Group spokesperson and parade creative director Graeme Browning told Sydney Star Observer.
“The whole theme of it is there’s a battle still to be fought, but there’s nothing wrong with looking glamorous while you’re fighting the battle.
“There’s going to be a huge horse. We’re very excited about that. That’s going to be somewhere around the middle of the parade, we’re thinking.”
The Marching Group entry is bigger than usual this year because of sponsorship from Gaydar.com.au.
“Normally we have one truck with lights and sound, this year we’re having two,” Browning said.
Organisers are shipping in costumes from overseas to cater for the expanded entry. They are also recruiting more participants.
The lead float in the Mardi Gras parade on 3 March will also look to the past as it makes a statement on the community today.
Browning said the float would refer to “the things that have been put in place in the last 100 years that have led us to the point we’re at now, what those things are and perhaps what the world would have been if a lot of these things hadn’t happened.
“It’s about the gay community but it’s also about the wider community. Mardi Gras’ statement is often about ourselves but I think as a community more and more we’re concerned about the world we live in.”
Organisers have not announced the lead float’s theme.
A Mardi Gras Marching Group briefing session will be held on Saturday 10 February from 2pm at Stonewall Hotel. To sign up before then, email parade@mardigras.org.au. Marchers need to be available for rehearsals in the second half of February
[Source]
Show your support for the Asian Marching Boys..
I would like to help promote the Asian Marching Boys fund raiser, their big night at Midnight Shift in Sydney on the 28th of Feb a week before the Mardi Gras Parade.
I will be there, with my bf, so come along if in Sydney.
The above poster features a lovely Chinese friend of mine, I think he looks very sexy... don't you...
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