MAN ABOUT TOWN

That's all I'm saying...

Who needs a TV series when you have all the action and excitement that is BIG BLOGGER 2006 , brought to you by Bevis. Hurrah! Which reminds me: I interviewed BB06 evictee Rob yesterday - should I post the interview?

...a song can move me to tears. It happened tonight, walking home down Gore Street listening to the Sufjan Stevens' track 'Casimir Pulaski Day'. Maybe it's because I was tired, or because the prospect of date #2 with zookeeper-boy this Friday has made in a chink in the wall I normally carry around to protect my fragile heart, or because tonight's new moon has stirred up my emotions more than is usual. Maybe it's because it's simply a simple, sad, beautiful song about a friend who has died of cancer. Either way, I was listening to it as I walked past the Victorian terraces in Fitzroy, and tears were trickling down my cheeks in the cold night air. Thanks, Sufjan.

I wanted to you to alert you to a situation in regards to a forthcoming proposal from the Melbourne City Council. The following text was given to me by a long-term busking acquitance. *** The City of Melbourne propose to: introduce a system of busking auditions (held quarterly) set a limit on the number of Busking Permits issued; have an EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) person measure the sound level of every busker that is issued with a Permit to ensure that they play at an acceptable level. This is a real grassroots arts/music issue akin to the Fair Go for Live Music Campaign. If these proposals go through it will have the reverse effect of Melbourne City Council's aims to encourage a vibrant, active local arts community. It will limit the opportunities of many arts/music practitioners to perform in a public space, to give some colour and life that adds to a rich energy to the city. Melbourne City is one of the few municipalities around that allows anyone to...

Should you be in a betting mood, take a squiz at this : a gambling website in the USA is running odds on which celebrity will be next to come out of the closet! Apparently the odds on favourite is Vin Diesel at 4 - 1. Next up is Keanu Reeves at 5-1. And then Oprah Winfrey at 6-1. Jake Gyllenhaal is also on the list, among others. Without wanting to be accused of obsessing over the sexualities of celebrities, of muckraking, or wanting to out people (it's all in fun, ok?) who do YOU think will come out first? Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets!

Yesterday's Community Cup was fantastic. A great crowd - 23,000 according to today's Age - and although I have no idea how much money was raised yet, I reckon it will be close to last year's $165,000: a great outcome for St Kilda's Sacred Heart Mission. The weather was perfect - cool, sunny and narry a breeze - and the two teams were splendid in their rivalry. The last few years have seen alternating wins to the Rockdogs and the Megahertz , so it seemed only fitting that this year was a draw between the two. There were some sour notes - in particular a broken collarbone for one of the poor Rockdogs (one of the members of The Twits I think) - but overall play was fair and not as aggressive as last year, the crowd were fantastic, and I came off with little more than a cracked rib courtesy of a tackle I instigated against Wally Meanie, and aching thighs when I woke up this morning. As mskp notes, there were countless highlights, including several streakers (I think I ...

My dear friend Bec , now a resident in Glasgow and working at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Sauchiehall Street, send me these photos earlier in the week. This first pic is of myself and Bec's husband Bob, who got their initials tattooed on his arm a few days prior to this photo being taken. It was taken at the wedding reception for our friends Adam and Anna. Both Bob and I, by this stage of the evening, were a few sheets to the wind when Bec said she wanted a photo of us showing off and comparing our tatts. We cheerfully agreed. This second photo, in which I'm attempting to look suave and swellegant, was taken at Adam and Anna's wedding, held in the Castlemaine botanic gardens, earlier the same day. That's my old workmate and ex- Voiceworks editor Craig Garrett on my right, and the utterly lovely, completely-forgiven-for-whisking-Bec-away-to-Scotland, Bob on my left. Charming gents both. Right, now I'm off to the Community Cup. Hopefully I'll have a few p...

This is how seriously I take the Community Cup ladies and gentlemen: I refrained from indulging on Friday night, and had a quiet and early one* at home; and I spent Friday and will spend today carb-loading, guzzling pasta, bread and other staples so that my energy reserves are replenished for Sunday's big game. Bring it on, Rockpigs - you're going down!** *The fact that I hadn't been to bed at all on Thursday night, and powered through the day without sleep, teeth grinding, has no bearing on this matter at all. None at all. **Metaphorically of course - unless one of the cuter blokes on the Rockdogs team would like to offer a reconcilatory blowjob, in which case, in the name of sportsmanship, I say, bring it on !

On yesterday's show, my guests were: 9.30am Rosemary Forde - Curator of the exhibition “How Low River Rose” Featuring the work of A Constructed World (Jacqueline Riva & Geoff Lowe) with Hao Guo At Victoria Park Gallery from Wednesday 21 June to Saturday 8 July. A Constructed World was invited to select an artist or artists to exhibit together with them at Victoria Park. Choosing to work with artist Hao Guo (an honours student at VCA) and curator Rosemary Forde, A Constructed World set up a collaborative project that crosses generations and cultures. The resulting exhibition, how low river rose, is an open-ended proposition, developing from the gaps in our knowledge, the vulnerability of truth and its translation, and the potential frustrations and confusions around inheritance and identity. how low river rose features recent video works from both artists plus newly developed collaborative pieces including moving sculpture and performance at the opening event. False claims,...

No, I'm not loitering in public toilets again; it's a radio show. Get your mind out of the sewer and back to the gutter where it belongs. Tonight on RRR between 7-8pm, myself, Glenn Manton and Tom Elliot will discuss male bonding and men's emotions on THE MEN'S ROOM , a sporadic show that looks at masculinity and men's issues. There'll be talkback too, so feel free to call in for a chat, as well as special and expert guests, and THE ANNOUNCING OF THIS YEAR'S COMMUNITY CUP TEAMS!!! Oh, I can taste the testosterone from here - or wait, no, maybe that's last night's one night stand...

Went to the media launch for the Melbourne Film Festival this morning, and now have my appetite for a three-week cinematic feast well and truly whetted. Traditionally, festival supremo James Hewison uses the media launch to announce the all-important opening night film: this year, he teased us, and announced that we wouldn't find out what the film was until the actual opening night! "Cinema seems to infiltrate our lives so much that I often wonder whether it's possible to see a film without a sort of pre-determined point of view," Hewison said. "On 26 July, MIFF's opening night (and my last as Executive Director) audiences will have that rare oportunity to have a virginal cinema experience. A pure experience - I hope - as we reveal a film that you certainly won't forget and won't leave you unmoved." So, if any of you manage to find out what the opening night film is going to be, please let me know! Probable highlights include: Princess , part ...

...such as a lone balloon tied to a tram stop in Victoria Parade on my way to work in the morning, or a weeping woman on a train, and I invent stories about them. The balloon was tied there by someone as a sign to their friends as to which tram stop to alight at in order to get to their party; only no-one came, no-one at all; and now they're feeling as limp and sad as the semi-deflated balloon itself. The woman has just left her husband after years of fighting and is weeping with a combination of sorrow and joy that she's finally done it; and at the next stop someone will get on who offers her a hanky, and with whom she'll start a wild and wonderful new life. I see things, and entire histories flash through my head in seconds, and I wonder if I should turn them into new stories, but I never seem to write them down, or if I do, I write them in my blog instead of turning them into succinct, polished literary gems that I could submit to Overland or Meanjin . Is blogging helpi...

...is the name of a song by The Decemberists, who are a band I really wish would tour. Oh well, the upcoming shows by Mogwai, Death Cab For Cutie, Snow Patrol, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will mostly make up for it. Mmmmm, touring bands. I bet you thought this post was going to be about the World Cup didn't you? Haahaaa, sucked in bigtime!

Made a list of all the things I'd planned to do this weekend. Have done almost none of them. Have procrastinated wildly, reading early entries on people's live-journals and blogs. Am missing Glen and Darren and am glad they're back in a few days. What with Mike in London, Martin in Sydney, and them overseas, I've been feeling a bit removed from the world. Will go and do housework now...

When I was a little kid, and I mean little, about grade two or three, I wanted to be a palentologist when I grew up. Ah yes, the exciting world of international fossil excavation! Fuck I was a strange kid - I mean, how many seven year olds have even heard of paleontology, let along harbour ambitions to be a paleontologist? A year or two later I'd decided I wanted to be an oceanographer instead; or a zoo keeper; or even possibly a vet. By 15 I'd decided I wanted to be an actor. Now, theoreticaly, I'm grown up, and I've become a writer, broadcaster and whatever else I am instead. Actually scratch that, I still don't feel grown up. Nor dod I have any idea of how I've ended up here. But what about you? What did you want to be when you were a kid?

DON'T FORGET - Artist Registrations @ Fringe are open NOW and close 5pm, Friday June 16 June. www.melbournefringe.com.au or (03) 8412 8788 9.30am “Anonymous” - IDENTIFY @ 69 Smith Street IDENTIFY - ARTIST HAS NO PRICE AND NOTHING TO SELL Melbourne - Why are we confronted, at every turn, with images designed to make us want something, designed to make us feel lacking somehow? Phd candidate Grace McQuilten explores this question in the form of an exhibition and free magazine entitled Identify opening at 69 Smith Street Gallery on Wednesday, June 14. Both magazine and exhibition set out to subvert fashion and design advertising. Unbranded and completely anonymous, Identify has no price and nothing to sell, with only a website linking the magazine back to the art project and inviting feedback from consumers. Identify will be distributed in music, clothing and book-stores throughout Melbourne to invite shoppers to question systems of consumer culture. The accompanying exhibition a...

Football training last night for my annual game in the Sacred Heart Mission Community Cup. I have been limping all day as a result. If I pull up this sore after training wtf will I be like after the actual match? Ah well at least I feel all manly and butch as a result. ;-)

SNAP RALLY for GLBTIQ Civil Rights. DEFEND civil unions from the homophobes in Government. PROTEST outside Liberal Party Headquarters, 104 Exhibition St, 5.30pm Friday 16th.

In the park, Boys play kick to kick - Fallen leaves. This was written as an experiment with the haiku form, which traditionally: Consists of three lines of 5/7/5 phonetic units, or morae (which only partially correspond to the syllables in English) Contains a seasonal reference (the kigo ) Features a kire , the so-called cut or breaking word (here signified by the dash, as English doesn't have kire ), signifying a shift in perspective. Some modern practioners of strict Haiku, as opposed to freeform Haiku (such as those written by Kerouac) propose that, as morae are not syllables per se, English language haiku should consist of 3/5/3 word patterns, to capture the sparse nature of some classic Japanese haiku. Thus the above attempt at a contemporary haiku, inspired by walking through the Fitzroy Gardens to the MCG. And here's a different example of a contemporary haiku, from Modern Haiku (Vol.37.1): funeral home here too ...

For many years, before I became the witty, urbane, cool, sophisticated arts hipster* that I am today, I was, to use the sadly underused Australian vernacular, a dag. I wore glasses and had long unkempt hair. I spent most of my school lunchtimes and recesses in the library, mainly to avoid being beaten up** by the footy players, farmers' sons, and other assorted rednecks who populated the small country high school I attended. I read The Lord of the Rings obsessively, a total of 18 times between the ages of 13 and 19, and taught myself to write in Elvish and Dwarvish script. I played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons every weekend. I eventually graduated to playing other role-playing games, such as the excellent and atmospheric Call of Cthulhu , based on the gothic fiction of H. P. Lovecraft (pictured, right); and the dark, baroque sword-and-sorcery game Stormbringer , based on the passionate pulp fictions of English fantasist Michael Moorcock . Then I started writing for said games,...

Don't you just love the hypocrisy of the Right? Providing the kids of same-sex parents with a supportive environment at school is blasted as "social engineering" and sets off a moral panic among the talkback set and tabloid readers. Funny then, that a plan to pay for chaplains to be included as staff in government schools as part of the Coalition's "national framework for values education" (as opposed to spending the money on something more useful like, I don't know, installing air-conditioning in overheated portable classrooms, or buying new computers or library books for disadvantaged schools) is seen as an "opportunity for values-based guidance and religious education" instead of an attempt to indocrinate kids with religious myths, and another step in the backwards path towards white-picket-fence 1950's Australia. Separation of church and state? Not for much longer given our current political climate!

Went to see Belle & Sebastian at The Forum last night; great live music venue. I've been there for heaps of other things, such as MIFF screenings, forums, hell I even saw ET there when it was first released, before the Forum became a Christian revival centre, but I'd never seen a gig there before. And what a bloody great gig it was! High energy, excellent clear sound, and fantastic songs from one of my favourite bands in the world in a set-list that sampled widely from their back catalogue instead of focussing too much on the latest album, which some bands are wont to do. I went to the gig with Andrew , who I met through Glen and Darren , who hadn't seen Belle & Sebastian before; whereas I saw them at the Palais two years ago on their first Australian tour; but last night we both had a great time. The set started with 'The State That I Am In', the opening track from the band's debut album Tigermilk , and swept us along from there. 'Electronic Renai...

A little light-on for guests on the show today, as the last week has been so busy workwise that I hadn't really had a chance to organise much. Next week should be back to being jam-packed though... 9.30am: The first guest for the day was Stuart Murdoch (pictured, right, in a photograph (c) Debra A Zeller 2004), the founding member and singer/songwriter with Scottish septet Belle and Sebastian . A s you can probably guess, given that these guys are one of my favourite bands in the world, I was bloody happy to have the chance to chat with Stuart. He was in his hotel room in Perth when we spoke, so the interview took place over the 'phone, which wasn't ideal, but I was still really happy with the conversation that resulted. If there's enough demand I'll transcribe the entire 16-odd minute interview and upload it to this blog: either way expect to see at least an excerpt from the interview appearing in the Radiothon edition of The Trip magazine (although you'll ...

I found this in The Age forums , and got a chuckle out of it, so thought I'd post it here as an antidote to me swearing a lot this morning... 1) Being gay is not natural. Real Australians always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning. 2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall. 3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behaviour. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract. 4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal. 5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed. 6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay coup...

From the website of the Sydney Morning Herald (and thanks to Arthur Vandelay for provding the link, even though it's just reduced me to tears of rage): Gay couples to lose right to say 'I do' Homosexual couples are set to lose their newly won right to say "I do" after the federal government vowed to overturn ACT civil union laws. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock emerged from a cabinet meeting in Canberra with a directive to the governor-general to use Commonwealth powers to scrap the territory laws before they could be used. The ACT parliament voted three weeks ago to allow gay couples to enter into a civil union, with almost the same status as marriage. But before the dust had settled on the laws, the federal government moved to override them. Prime Minister John Howard said the ACT would have given same-sex couples the right to marriage in all but name. "The legislation, by its own admission, is an attempt to equate civil unions with marriage and we don...

US President George W. Bush has reignited the gay marriage debate in a speech at the White House on Monday. “Marriage is the most fundamental institution of civilization, and it should not be redefined by activist judges,” he said, as the US Senate prepared to debate a proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage. The proposed Marriage Protection Amendment would define marriage as solely between a man and a woman. P olitical commentators say Bush benefited from his support of the amendment in 2004, as the move encouraged religious conservatives to vote for him, helping him win a second term. Bush has said little about same-sex marriage since his re-election. With his popularity rate at an all-time low following the mishandling of the war in Iraq and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, some have suggested that Bush is relying on the divisive same-sex marriage issue to rebuild support among his own party and religious conservatives. “Yes, this is about pandering to his base,” sa...

On the way to work at MCV this morning, I walked past the abortion clinic in East Melbourne and found myself literally trembling with rage after a short discussion with a Right To Life protester. I asked the wrinkled old bastard why, if he was so concerned with human life, he wasn't out protesting the war in Iraq, or helping feed street kids, or doing something about the mortality rate in indigenous communities, and he started waffling about 'protecting the innocent' or somesuch. If there hadn't been a cop watching, I think I might have spat on the sanctimonious old turd. Not exactly a measured, intellectual response, I know, but how else do you argue with a zealot whose only real agenda is maintaining his slowly slipping control of women's bodies?

Good god. I have a business card now. A BUSINESS CARD. According to this small piece of cardboard, handily sized so as to fit in a wallet or pocket*, I AM A JOURNALIST. All of a sudden I feel ridiculously grown up and mature. I think I need to go out and get drunk in order to counter such feelings. Who's with me?! *And which bright spark came up with that idea, hmmm?

Mark Hilton – Collective Autonomy Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces 200 Gertrude Street Fitzroy, until June 24 Opening Hours: Tue - Fri 11am-5.30pm, Sat 1-5.30pm 200 Gertrude Street Fitzroy Victoria 3065 Australia T: +61 3 9419 3406 www.gertrude.org.au Mark Hilton’s Collective Autonomy is a breathtaking sequence of exquisitely detailed light boxes, whose confronting subject matter challenges us to rethink our notions of contemporary Australian culture. Each light box is executed in a traditional cultural style – Medieval fresco, ancient Persian court painting and Chinese coffin-lid carving. Despite these diverse and historical aesthetic approaches, the works allegorically grapple with unsettling socio-political events in present-day Australia. These include the notorious stabbing deaths at Melbourne’s Salt Nightclub in 2003, and the alleged culture of sexual abuse in Australia’s elite football teams. Considered together, the works in Collective Autonomy serve as a reflection, memoria...