Ex-gay record collection

This is what happens when a "reformed homosexual", like Donnie Davies, cleans out his record collection: all matters of highly questionable and dubious musical taste come floating to the surface, which he then serves up as a warning not to listen to them as it can turn you gay.

Here's his list: (his "comments" are in brackets)

* The Spores (endorse suicide)
* Scissor Sisters
* Rufus Wainwright
* Merzbau
* Ravi Shankar
* Wilco
* Bjork
* Tech N9ne
* Ghostface Killah
* Bobby Conn
* Morton Subotnik
* Cole Porter
* The String Cheese Incident
* Eagles of Death Metal
* Polyphonic Spree
* The Faint
* Interpol
* Tegan and Sara
* Erasure
* The Grateful Dead (AIDS)
* Le Tigre
* Marilyn Manson (dark gay)
* The Gossip
* The Magnetic Fields
* The Doors
* Phish
* Queen
* The Strokes
* Sufjan Stevens
* Morrissey(?questionable?)
* The Pet Shop Boys
* Metallica
* Judas Priest
* The Village People
* The Secret Handshake
* The Rolling Stones
* David Bowie
* Frankie Goes to Hollywood
* Man or Astroman
* Richard Cheese
* Jay-Z
* Depeche Mode
* Kansas
* Ani DiFranco
* Fischerspooner
* John Mayer
* George Michael (texan)
* Angel Eyes
* The Indigo Girls
* Velvet Underground
* Madonna
* Elton John
* Barry Manilow
* Indigo Girls
* Melissa Etheridge
* Eminmen
* Nirvana
* Boy George*
* The Killers
* Lou Reed
* Lil' Wayne
* Motorhead
* Jill Sobule
* Wilson Phillips
* DMX
* Lisa Loeb
* Ted Nugent (loincloth)
* Dogstar
* Thirty Seconds to Mars
* Lil' Kim
* kd lang
* Frank Sinatra
* Hinder
* Nickleback
* Justus Kohncke
* Bob Mould
* Clay Aiken
* Arcade Fire
* Bright Eyes
* Corinne Bailey Rae
* Audioslave
* Red Hot Chili Peppers
* Panic at the Disco
* Elton John (really gay)

There are some strange entries, I mean, really, Nirvana, Frank Sinatra, Bjork, Eminem, The Rolling Stones and Motorhead (and probably tons more cos I haven't heard of half of them) all healthy heterosexuals as far as I know (and not ex-gay like our Donnie).
And where are all those disco divas like Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor and Sylvester that have been responsible for turning many a gay boy into a disco queen - something which I find harder to stomach than turning a str8 boy queer!

The music that turned me gay: Sex Pistols, The Smiths, David Cassidy, The Sweet, Marc Bolan. Bowie, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure too, of course, but I seriously thought I could never be gay after watching Elton John, the Village People or George Michael.

And who turned Donnie Davies straight again? Cyndi Lauper, apparently

Vaut le voyage

The biennial sculpture exhibition on our island is on again from today.
Sculpture on the Gulf is always a fun event and you don't have to like modern art to appreciate the setting, with all the art trying to make use of the stunning gulf and islands backdrop.
Especially recommended is touring the exhibition in the late afternoon when the sun sets and adds to the atmos.
Take a picnic along the coastal walkway. Entry is free and it's open until 11 February.

I'm busy choosing my Gannymede

And now for a news story that is warming my heart: the Greeks have re-legalized the ancient Greek Olympic pantheistic religion headed by Zeus. And not before time. The ancient religion was made illegal by the Christians in the Roman Empire, then in its last throes in the West.
I have always been a bit sceptical by the Christian claim that they "preserved civilisation" through the Dark Ages. Light at the end of the Dark Age tunnel was not provided by the Church but by the Renaissance, which specifically harked back to the pre-Christian era, and by the revolutionary Enlightenment, which brought us modern science and a relief from superstition.
So now in this new era of desert religion upsurge and fundamentalism it is good to see the old crew back. And what a jolly inspiring bunch they are!
The old Greek religion brought us fun and games that are still with us and cherished by millions around the world: the Olympics, soap operas, democracy, a healthy sense of self, gymnasiums and butt-fucking. The Orthodox Church simply can't compete with that.

I'm off re-reading all those wonderful myths and legends - so much more fulfilling, interesting, inspiring and a bloody good read than those interminably moralistic dirges of the Bible or Koran.
And while they're at it, bring back the Norse gods, myths and sagas back too. Nothing like a viking sailing up my fjord!

Who on earth wants to be an Australian?

Further evidence that Australia and New Zealand are living in parallel universes: the annual tribal youth cultures jamboree, a.k.a. The Big Day Out, in New Zealand passed without notice, while in Australia it has been marred by ugly scenes of "patriots" forcing bystanders to kiss the Australian flags they had draped around their sweaty and red-necked bodies, or risk being beaten up as un-Australians. Nothing like that would ever happen in New Zealand. Ever. So never confuse Australians and New Zealanders when you meet them. Just like you would never want to mix up Americans with Canadians.

Now there is a website to measure your political position in Ozzie terms. (Thank you No Right Turn) And my results are actually not far off the mark at all:
- Political outlook: Your broad political orientation score is -43.3%, which equates to a ‘Left’ position
- Economic policy: Your economic policy score score is -3%. This equates to a ‘Centre’ position
- Social policy: Your social policy score is -47.7%. This equates to a ‘Left’ position
- Traditional values: Your traditional values score is -78.5%. This equates to a ‘Far Left’ position

As a high tax band reasonably well off homosexual my economic leftism is necessarily tempered by the fact that in return for paying taxes I get relatively little back - certainly far less than breeding couples who get masses of family support, which in essence I actually pay for. Never mind, a child is reared by a whole village, not just its family.
I am certainly pleased that in none of the categories I score on the Tory side of the spectrum.

Move over rugby, cricket and swimming

There is finally a new sport worth watching: male beach volleyball, but only if they don't wear any tops, of course.
The new boys on the block for New Zealand are Kirk Pitman and Jason Lochhead, hot to trot to the Olympics next year, apparently. Good to hear too that the crowds were "boisterous" in their support of the boys. I must add them to my watchlist.

The 8 modern tribes of New Zealand

Your dominant tribe is Grey Lynn

You're dedicated to the idea of making a difference and living in a principled way. You love culture and ideas.

The Grey Lynn Tribe - Intellectual

The highly educated intelligentsia who value ideas above material things and intellectualise every element of their lives. Their most prized possession is a painting by the artist of the moment, they frequent film festivals, secretly wish they had more gay and Maori friends, feel guilty about discussing property values and deep down are uneasy about their passion for rugby.
More about the Grey Lynn Tribe here.

This is such a hoot. I might not live in Grey Lynn - it's a hole without a seaview, and all the gay and creative boys have moved to Kingsland (it should be renamed Queensland soon) - I actually work there, and the general stereotype rings true:
I have some original paintings by island artists du jour; have been to tons of film festivals, but I certainly don't need to wish for more gay or Maori friends. I don't feel guilty about property price talk, it's just a very boring thing to do. And I'm certainly easy about rugby, I mean look at this.

Perhaps the test missed out on a 9th Tribe: Waiheke Islanders, combining the best - and worst - of all the characteristics: from aspirational propertarians who hate the idea of common land, to ethics-spouting communitarians, who wish to change the world, one island at a time.

You can do the 8 Tribes test

A Chinese whisper

As an experiment I fed the motto of my blog "Connecting the electrodes of queer wisdom to the nipples of bigotry and ignorance" through half a dozen translations in the same translator. This is what I got back from WorldLingo:

English to Spanish: Conectar los electrodos de la sabiduría rara con las entrerroscas del fanatismo y de la ignorancia.

Spanish to Dutch: Om de elektroden van de zeldzame wijsheid aan entrerroscas van fanaticism en de onwetendheid te verbinden.

Dutch to Greek: Για να συνδέσουν το φανατισμό και την άγνοια οι μαγνήτες της σπάνιας φρόνησης με τα entrerroscas.

Greek to Arabic: [إين وردر تو] ربطت التعصب والحالة جهل المغنطيسات من تعقل نادرة مع [إنتررّوسكس].

Arabic to Japanese: 稀な慎重さからの磁石についての熱狂そして状態の無知の束との

Japanese to English: Rare prudence the bundle of ignorance of excitement and state concerning the empty magnet

Another translator, BabelFish came up with:

English to Spanish: Conectar los electrodos de la sabiduría rara con las entrerroscas del fanatismo y de la ignorancia

Spanish to French: Relier les électrodes de la sagesse rare avec les entrerroscas du fanatisme et de l'ignorance

French to Greek: Να συνδέστε τα ηλεκτρόδια της σπάνιας σοφίας με τα entrerroscas του φανατισμού και της άγνοιας

Greek to English: Connect the electrodes of infrequent Sofia with entrerroscas the fanaticism and the ignorance

English to Japanese: とまれなソフィアの電極を熱狂および無知接続しなさい

Japanese to English: Stop excitement and connect the Sophia electrode ignorantly

The translation path is different because it gave fewer options, but I do like this result.
A third one, Applied Language Solutions, came up with:

English to Portuguese: Conectando os elétrodos da sabedoria estranha aos bocais do bigotry e do ignorance

Portuguese to French: En reliant l'elétrodos de la sagesse trouve trange aux embouts de la bigotry et de l'ignorance

French to Dutch: Door elétrodos van de wijsheid te verbinden vindt trange aan embouts van bigotry en de onwetendheid

Dutch to English: By linking elétrodos of wisdom find trange to embouts of bigotry and ignorance

English to Arabic: ب يقترن [إلترودوس] من حكمة اكتشاف [ترنج] إلى [إمبووتس] من تعصب وحالة جهل

Arabic to English: In skimps from wisdom of discovery from fanaticism and situation of ignorance

A modern version of the Babel language confusion!

"Sex" in the news

American students are holding underground "nude parties" but it's not at all what you think, or you expect: instead of having a good time, as you do when you're in the sexual prime of your life, they're "non-sexual", where "Person-to-space ratio is very, very important" (i.e. all look, if you can in the dimly lit venue, but no touch). Apparently

"the dynamic is completely different from a clothed party. People are so conscious of how they’re coming across that conversations end up being more sophisticated. You can’t talk about how hot that chick was the other night."

Well, quite, but relating your latest sexual conquest to your mates could be accompanied by more than just verbal bravado when you're all starkers. In my opinion it would make for a fantastic night to remember. But no, puritanism and even good old-fashioned American style litigation still rule:

"A Yale freshman accused a senior of following her home after a naked party and making unwanted advances. He pleaded no contest to a fourth-degree sexual assault charge and in 2004 was sentenced to two years of probation."

Good sex in America, an oxymoron?

Which Greek God are you?

?? Which Of The Greek Gods Are You ??

Athena
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That's not a bad outcome at all. Athena is one cool goddess. Apollo would have been great too. As long as those boys do their offerings in their "gymnos" gear.

New year's resolution

I'll try at least one of the techniques described for this new year's resolution. My pick would be the cucumber trick: it's vegetarian, healthy, restores your minerals balance and you remove the evidence!

Nothing better than a belly laugh to cure a hangover

"African primates appoint missionary bishops to ordain US clergy"

"The Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a group that defies Anglican custom and which may be condemned by other primates as illegitimate"

From a column titled "Gay breach threatens Anglicans", but I couldn't get myself off the floor for a while.