AKA Mika.

Seriously, deliciously HOT!!! I think I'm in love with this guy.







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WknXCcVThI

 "The curves of beauty are not softly wrought": A Palaestral Study

More U2! The Edge on the guitar = Awesomeness!!! My stereo is nowhere near loud enough!

This was playing on the radio whilst I was on the bus. My grandfather used to listen to this, I haven't  heard it for what seems like years. It brings back strange memories.


 

 I've got an invitation to a US Election Party for tomorrow evening. It says to bring the following:

- Mates, trashy American snacks, lots of drinks and a sleeping bag.

The evening will start with a movie, followed by lots of drinks deep into the night as we watch the results come through ...

Hopefully the evening will be as entertaining as it has been promised. It's certainly not the kind of party you can have everyday.

I am in a new group this year. I didn't know any of them beforehand and none of them knows me either. They seem a nice enough bunch. One of the boys is a very good looking Irish lad. The only thing, everything he says seems to be loaded with homophobic meanings. He says the word "gay" in every other sentence, like "Oh, this book is crap, they explain this thing in a really gay way". Or in a seminar yesterday, he said something about being buggered as a boy and how that didn't seem to have done him any harm. I knew it wasn't true and he was telling it as a joke.

Everyone in the group always laughs. Do they really think it's funny? Am I being too sensitive? I have not said anything so far. I don't want to kick up a fuss, plus I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. He is actually always very nice to me, in fact I think he really likes me. I can have controversial views and strong opinions at times, and he always end up defending me. Very curious. May be it's just his sense of humour and I am reading too much into it.

If he does say anything again, I wonder what I should do. Oh mate, by the way, someone in this group is gay?! Hm ...

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin.

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Not being an American, I am no expert on American politics, but I still pay some attention; if anything, for their great entertainment values.

The latest video of John McCain and Sarah Palin just made me laugh out loud. Did I imagine the fact that Mr McCain looked extremely uncomfortable throughout the whole speech? He was fidgeting the entire time and looked like he wanted to get out of there ASAP.

So Mrs Palin is an ex-beauty queen, a mother of 5, "an average hockey Mom" (what's THAT?). She is also ultra conservative, she is pro-life and a fierce opponent of abortion, but a life-member of the National Rifle Association and supports the death penalty!!! Hello, WTF? I fail to see the logic there. Moreover, she is anti-gay/against same sex marriage, she believes in oil-drilling in Alaska and has no regard for the environment. Oh that's right, her husband is an oil production operator.

Mrs Palin also gave me the impression that she is rather aggressive. I'm sorry, but I do have an aversion to aggressive women. I like women, even strong women, and women SHOULD be in positions of power & responsibility, as much as men. But why all that aggression?

Well, if that's what the American people want, who am I to say anything? Good luck to them all.

Finally managed to sit down with my good mate to watch "Latter Days". We said we were going to for months, but life got in the way. Good gracious, I wish we'd watched it earlier! Good film actually, slightly sentimental, but funny a lot of the time, and sad in places. The end was too sappy, but it makes a change. Not that I'm into happy endings at all, but you do get fed up with the portrayal of gay guys dying or becoming totally messed up & dysfunctional.

Great line at the beginning of the film from Chris (played by Wes Ramsey): "...I don't want to brag, but I can suck the engine block through the tailpipe of a '58 Chevy... I'm talking about one of the big ones, with the 380s..."

Man, I bet he can too, he was soooo hot! I could barely concentrate on the story line at the start. In fact a few of them were pretty hot. And I hadn't realised Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in it. He's cute. I loved him in "Mysterious Skin".

I was rudely awakened by the whining of George W Bush over the radio, worsening my hangover.

He expressed "deep concerns" over China's human rights record in a speech on the eve of the Beijing Olympics. Nothing wrong with that. We all know China has a notorious human rights record. I was just reminded of that on reading a feature about the Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian, the first and only writer in Chinese to win the Nobel prize for literature, and has been in exile in France for the last 21 years.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/aug/02/gao.xingjian

However, Bush was condescending & irritating as usual. And undoubtedly, straight after his speech in Bangkok, he will be flying to Beijing for the Olympics. A man of principles he is.

One thing he said: "Young people who grow up with the freedom to trade goods will ultimately demand the freedom to trade ideas..."

I wish that were more true. Most mainland-Chinese of my generation that I've come across, are chiefly concerned with money, cars, status. Very few seem to be bothered about ideas, freedom, democracy or politics. In fact a lot of them have no idea about China's human rights record and are quite naive about their own government. I understand I am only speaking from my own experience, and what I've seen isn't representative of all young Chinese. One hopes change will come in time.

On a different note, I was looking at Gay Travel. China seems to have an emerging gay tourism, with quite a few travel companies offering gay-friendly tours, accompanied by gay, English-speaking guides! China is said to have a burgeoning gay scene, perhaps only in the big cities such as Beijing. Considering homosexuality wasn't removed from the list of "hooligan acts" until 1997, and it wasn't until 2001 that it was no longer classified as a mental disorder, the rise of China's gay community does seem astonishing. I need to see it for myself.

Perhaps it's time I went back to China.

10 things that make blokes cry:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7540659.stm

80 more things which also do the same trick, apparently:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7544985.stm

Hmm....

Bono and The Edge, shut the fuck up. And they do, after a short while.

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http://www.homophobiaday.org/default.aspx?scheme=3098





HEALTHCARE AND HOMOPHOBIA will be the centre of the 2008 Campaign. (see link below)

http://www.homophobiaday.org/default.aspx?scheme=3513

Recently we conducted a Project looking at LGBT Health Inequalities, especially in terms of mental health issues. Sadly our findings confirmed that there is indeed massive health inequalities for the LGBT population, and up to 40% LGBT people in the UK have experienced homophobia and heterosexism from healthcare providers. Considering the LGBT population has a much higher level of mental health problems, LGBT people face high levels of discrimination & difficulty when accessing health care.

We also found that even up to 1994, openly gay/lesbian people were not accepted to train as therapists at certain British training institutions.

It's not possible to go into detail about all our findings. But the fact remains that LGBT Health Inequalities is a Public Health issue in the UK. Currently it's not high up on our government's agenda. I understand that the NHS is stretched, but there remains much to be done in order to improve the situation.

Therefore this year's Campaign Against Homophobia with a focus on Healthcare is very pertinent.

"California's top court has ruled that a state law banning marriage between same-sex couples is unconstitutional."

"The seven-judge panel voted 4-3 in favour of the plaintiffs who argued that the 2000 law was discriminatory. The ruling paves the way for California to become only the second US state, after Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriage."

"WE WON!" - they shouted.

What an exciting day for all Californians - a day signifying freedom, equality and justice. Whether one wants marriage for oneself or not, this is truly a great human rights victory.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7403547.stm