Final on Shafty in Leeds
You may recall a few weeks ago that I really took to task a webmaster who stole content and bandwidth from Superdrewby. After posting the details on here (17 Jan 2003) and also contacting his webhost the website was taken down (thanks Tripod). I and many other Superdrewby Readers sent him emails to complain about his actions and I never heard from until two days ago.
I have reprinted his email below as a formal apology not just to me but to all the Superdrewby Readers:
Hello there. I want to say how sorry i am about taking pictures and words from your site. It was never intentional i just did not know it was not allowed. You see i have just got into computing and how to setup websites, it was not until i received this email that i realised what i had done. I am sincerely sorry and hope you will be able to forgive me.
I also am sorry to all the people i may have offended. please rest assured it was not intentional and i hope you are forgiving. I look forward to receiving your reply
Better late then never thanks mate!
11 Days Countdown to Mardi Gras
It's only eleven days till the New Sydney Mardi Gras Party and Parade on Saturday the first of March.
Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has traditionally been one of the largest and Internationally recogonised celebrations for the Gay and Lesbian Community. With the demise of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras last year under a cloud of financial troubles this year's party, parade and festival is a much scaled down event being operated by the newly formed Sydney Mardi Gras.
Notice the lack of Gay and Lesbian in the name of the organisation?
Mardi Gras has been a target of it's own success over the last ten years, the events themselves have been managed, created and operated by community groups and members but the community at large has been taking over and diluting the "gayness". This year the party tickets are open to all and sundry, wheras in other years people had to be a member of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Organisation to purchase tickets. This has been very successful at keeping it a Gay and Lesbian event and limiting the number of people who do not really fit at a Gay and Lesbian event.
This may sound like discrimination and in it's own way it is, but in this case it has been positive discrimination aimed at ensuring a safe and friendly environment for the gay and lesbian community.
In the mid ninties the parties started to have a small but noticable "straight" crowd. This was fine when they integrated into the rest of the party, but this group started to congregate together in one large section of the party.
When it's a well integrated straight contigent it's fine, until you accidently wandered into a huge section of the dance floor and were pushed by the straight girls, shoved hard by the straight boys and generally made to feel unsafe.
Now forgive me if I am wrong but Mardi Gras is a Gay and Lesbian event. The reason we have special events is because when the straight community have their thousands and thousands of dance parties, clubs and special events we can go, but we can't act gay or bisexual (in other words ourselves) without fear of real violence and problems.
The straight community keeps on telling me that I have equality and I can go to any straight event I want to - but realistically I can go, but can I dance with my partner, or express my sexuality openly without fear of violence, verbal abuse or nastiness aimed at me? No I cannot.
This is an issue that I feel very strongly about because I know how dangerous being openly gay at a straight event can be. Let us keep our Gay and Lesbian events and help make sure they are Gay and Lesbian.
Happy Valentines Day
February 14th is a day to tell the people we love our feelings, a day for love and affection to be shown and also a day to recieve small anonymous cards and gifts!
Many wishes that you hear from the special person in your life!
Farewell Columbia
The boy and I are huge space fans, we have dreamt of going into space, watching the space shuttle launch and escaping the Earth's gravity and seeing the world as a whole not just our small part.
On Sunday morning as I was waking up and reading my email, a tribute to the brave Austronauts of the Space Shuttle Columbia was in my inbox. Not quite awake, I muttered "I hope this is a joke". The boy came up as I launched my favorite news site and saw the terrible news that the Space Shuttle Columbia had disintergrated upon re-entry hours before.
Even though it does not directly touch our lives, both of us were devestated by the news.
I remembered seventeen years ago as a 13 year old, waking early one morning to watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. But instead of watching the majestic launch I watched the destruction of the graceful craft and the death of seven people.
I have always loved the poem "High Flight" that was used as the tribute to the Challenger Astronauts and I have reprinted it below. In searching for the poem I also found details on the Author
"High Flight"
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
I am a thirty something married gay boy living in Sydney, almost on top of the gay scene but not in it!
Why Sometimes blue?, because I love blue, but also I am sometimes blue :)
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