Naked.......Harry Potter

Equus opened today in London to rave reviews.

Some Mom’s might be a bit upset going to see “Harry Potter” with kids for a Sunday outing, but hasn't he grown up.

Boston

On my return to Boston after my dash down to NYC; Angelo, Henry and myself took a tour of the town on narrated guided Trolley. It went for about an hour and a half and unfortunately covered a lot of the city that I had already been to. But previously I didnt have a camera so it was a good opportunity to grab a few snaps while being out and about.

Angelo & Henry


Boston city skyline



A church of who's name I have no idea


A snapshot of the street showing the coldness outside the trolley

New York, Boston and back to South Beach

Its been awhile now since I have posted anything, and now have a lot to catch up on. But I am standing in a Apple store in South Beach pretending to be interested in their computers, but in fact I'm using their internet to add this post, so I can't hang around too long or upload any photos to tell you what has been going on and about the people that I have met along the way. So this will be short with not much to it until I have a chance to sit and write properly with some photos.

During the past month I have been to New York City and to Boston. My very first experience of below zero (celcius) temperature's. All was good though, I was rugged up by many layers of clothing, even though that sometimes wasn't enough with the wind penetrating right through to the skin. I was in New York on and off for just under two weeks, which meant my time with Kevin was unfortunately brief. Kevin is a great guy and takes care of me while I am in town, and I love him to bits. And I do love hanging out with his friends Parker and Solomon. Parker is warm, full of life and always on the go, and Solomon always welcomes me with a sturdy hand shake and a 'gday mate', plus he is easy on the eye. Things got colder as I headed up to Boston to hand out with Angelo and Henry. They recently moved to Boston from San Francisco, and it was Angelo's birthday at the end on January, thus the main reason for the trip. They too treat me very well and make sure I go without a thing, in fact they boarder on spoiling me.

I did make a dash back down to NYC to hang out with Kevin and Parker again for a period of about four days. I still didn't get the chance to catch up with Shawn, but I did get to have dinner with Flavio and Sandy.

Now I'm back in South Beach. I wanted to thaw out and give my tan a boost. I have been here a week and will be flying out tomorrow, heading back to Texas to see friends there as I make my way back to San Francisco to prepare for my departure back to Sydney.

I am missing out on Sydney's Mardi Gras month. I hear the weather as been perfect. My two favourite events have been and gone, Fair Day and Pool Party. Oh how I LOVE Fair Day. I was getting text messages from the dance tent and it made me jealous. But next years will be the best and will make up for missing out this year. A lot of my friends here in the States are making definite plans to be in Sydney next year for Mardi Gras. That will be great.

Bus trip from NYC to Boston


Kevins snow filled street during my dash down from Boston


Dinner with Flavio, Parker & Kevin


View from Angelo & Henry's balcony (left view then right view)

And Mardi Gras begins

Below is an article from todays Sydney Morning Herald, titled 'Little Sydney' and is written by Steve Dow.


Rupert Everett, Boy George, Little Britain ... Mardi Gras has something for every gay in the village.

Flash mob or red carpet? There are two new ways to ring in the Mardi Gras season, which has a stronger line-up of shows and a thoroughly British kick-off in Sydney's gay village.

This year, texting your name to 0429 920 370 will get you the details of Mardi Gras's premiere flash mob launch somewhere around the city on Saturday at an as-yet unspecified time. It will ring in the 29th anniversary of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender festival.

A text message sent out last week read: "Sorry 4 the kafuffle Bubbles but due to unforseen circs we must move Flash Mob Launch to AFTERNOON of SAT 3RD FEB. If UR a gay U want to be there!"

Mardi Gras has all but confirmed that Matt Lucas and David Walliams, who are performing their first Sydney Little Britain show on Saturday, will be flashmobbing with Sydneysiders. But the pair and their alter egos will miss the March 3 parade as they are playing Perth that night.

Tonight there's the Red Carpet Mardi Gras Festival 2007 opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art, with performances by Bob Downe, Paul Capsis, Katie Noonan and more.

The double launch is Mardi Gras's radical answer to last year's Opera House forecourt season launch, which was hotly criticised for uninspiring speeches and entertainment.

"I think the flash mob is a great idea," says Larry Singer, aka Panther, who runs internet posting site Pinkboard. "It's great to see New Mardi Gras trying new things."

Singer says there's a "definite excitement" online about the party in Moore Park on March 3, given Boy George will be DJing in the Hordern.

What about the rest of the festival, though? Aren't people talking about that? "Not very much. They rarely do unless they are bitching."

Silence does not mean approval of the festival as a whole; Pinkboard users usually focus on the party each year. Similarly, the parade, also on closing night, always attracts Sydney buzz and interstate and international visitors. Mardi Gras' challenge has always been to get people as excited about the events between now and then.

Festival-goers will have some good theatre choices in the first two weeks: return seasons of Australian play Holding the Man and international hit Hedwig and the Angry Inch, David Mamet's lesbian-themed Boston Marriage, the original New York production of Al Takes a Bride and a Sydney production of Kiss of the Spider Woman.

But Mardi Gras event organisers have become savvy about programming for the final two weeks of the festival, perhaps taking advantage of the visitors in town and creating more festival bang for the buck leading up to the parade and party.

For instance, Slide, the official festival bar in Oxford Street, is staging nearly all its Mardi Gras cabaret shows in the latter part of February. Other cabaret venues are following suit.

International performance artist Meow Meow returns to Sydney for Mardi Gras to mix Bertolt Brecht with Dolly Parton at the Opera House on February 16. S.O.S., the confrontational English comedian and performance artist David Hoyle's first show in Australia, will play there from February 17. Canada's Ronnie Burkett and his Theatre of Marionettes perform at the Opera House from February 15. Film star Rupert Everett discusses his tell-all autobiography at the Seymour Centre on February 26.

Queer Screen's Mardi Gras Film Festival runs the second half of the month as usual, from February 15, with the added buzz of an opening night at the Angel Place Recital Hall for the first time with the My Queer Career shorts. Key events produced by the Mardi Gras organisation - Fair Day and the Pool Party at Victoria Park - are on February 18 and February 24 respectively.

February 21 provides a fun choice. It's the night of the world premiere of Showgirls Live at the State Theatre. Paul Verhoeven's tacky 1995 cult flick has been re-tooled by comic writer Phil Scott, featuring live dancers and new voice-overs by showgirls Mitzi Macintosh and Penny Tration.

The Mardi Gras-produced Great Debate, Gaydar versus Gaybar, on whether internet dating sites are killing the gay scene, is also on February 21.

Rumour has it meanwhile that Everett has made it known he'd like to be on the lead float on March 3. He would need to be made chief of the parade. New Mardi Gras chairman Marcus Bourget won't confirm.

"I know Rupert will be very heavily involved with the season overall," he says.

New Mardi Gras
Today to March 3, various venues, http://www.mardigras.org.au.
Red Carpet opening tonight at 8, Museum of Contemporary Art, Circular Quay, 1300 556 605, $89.50.
The parade is on March 3