Media Slut....

Man, It's hard being a Quasi Celebrity.

I didn't need Ready Steady Cook. I didn't need a starring role on Sunrise. Man... I didn't even need to meet Mr Bean on Bondi Beach. All I needed was a pair of speedo's, a spray tan, some red sunnies and a shit load of poofs and dykes all marching together to Bonnie Tyler!

I've highlighted people you'd know in red in the 2 newspaper pics:

Click to see them clearer!

Sydney Star Observer, I'm on the right, up the back:

Then there's me from the Channel 7 archives:

And the next night at homesexual; from homesexual.com.au

Give me a few more appearances and Edwina won't be able to stop staring at me next time we meet... apparently there's something "magnetic" about a celeb according to her. I tend to agree!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Now if for some reason you didn't know that on Sat 3rd March that I took part in the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, you most would have been in a coma for the last 2 months. Or perhaps you don't just don't listen to me!

It was a perfect Autumn Day here in Sydney and the day had been a busy, but good one - brunch with the Uni kids at Lounge Bar and then I dropped my bestie Kendall off to a party in Bondi.

So with seconds to spare, Karla picked me up from my place and we were off to the marshalling area. After a lot of standing around and waiting, we were moved into our position, given our costumes and left to our own devices to get changed. I cleverly found myself a corner of a pokie room in a nearby pub and got nude! I don't think this pub quite knew what hit it as there were sooo many poofs and dykes in all states of undress using their toilets and mincing around!

So after being in the marshalling area for a few hours, you get bored and you get tired. We went for a walk to check out the other floats and saw some amazing sites - ALLLL different types of people, friends (Amy Coopes and her wife Rach, my mate Andrew, Anthony Venn Brown), drag queens, the most eccentric of people (like the grandmother in a wheelchair holding a cucmber and a massive dildo!) and the most normal of people too.

Everyone had one thing in common - we were all smiling. And excited!

So eventually we got into our positions and did a full dress rehersal. The reaction we got from the people watching from the streets was incredible! And at around about 8pm - we were off. We started off at Pitt St, then moved up past Hyde Park, through Oxford Street and then up past Taylor Square.

I can't describe how exciting the atmosphere was. It was incredible! I felt like a celebrity, doing my routine and then running around screaming at the crowd "HAPPY MARDI GRAS!" while they cheered us on and took photos. I saw heaps of friends on the side of the streets including Joel (Anthea's mate) Belly and Clare (see Belly's awesome Mardi Gras post here), Irish Dave from Ankali, Marc I used to work with at the Imperial, Adam I used to work with at Nova, Farren and Paul and Brett... and of course Kendall, but I'm saving that story for later.

So as you can imaine, after marching to choreographed music for an hour and a half, we were all drenched in sweat, tired, dehydrated... BUT REALLY FUCKIN PUMPED UP! It was seriously one of the most amazing experiences I've ever done.

After marching, it was off to the after party (after sitting down and resting for about an hour!)

The party was incredible. Great Music, Great People, Great Venue, Great Entertainment... great munted-ness!

Highlights include
* Seeing Boy George Do a DJ set
* Consuming a vodka slushy and a full glass of Champers just before going to see the Young Divas!
* Running into Tim Dwyer and Henny who I used to work with at NOVA. It was soo great to catch up with them and I hope we get to do it again soon!
*The Characters we met on the night - like the old drag queens selling lollipops for the luncheon club, a girl named Precious who was dressed not as Wonder Woman, but rather "Wonderful Woman", a couple we befriended on the dancefloor who fell in love over the internet and reduced Kendall and I to tears with their story of Love, the police woman who filled us in on what she thought of the Mardi Gras Crowd and also her little son, the man Spence was going to pick up who couldn't believe how I knew the words to every song! The list goes on.
* The Venues - THE RETRO ROOM ROCKED! I loved it! The decorations everywhere were incredible! The Outdoor DJ changed my life too.
* Everyone was happy. It was like Christmas with random people coming up to you saying "Happy Mardi Gras" or giving you a hug. The whole vibe of the place was beautiful - there was a lot of love going around!

But hands down, the best part of the whole night was getting to hang out with my friends all night... Mark and the guys, Spencer and in particular Kendall. I swear, you couldn't have knocked me off cloud nine that night and having my besty there with me for pretty much the whole time was fuckin ace. It started when I was marching and I spotted her fighting the crowds trying to get to the front to see me... I stopped dancing, ran over to her and gave her a massive hug. I screamed at her "I fuckin love you Kendall! This is amazing!" and she said to me "I'm so proud of you!" And every time I think of that moment, I get a lump in my throat and tears well up in my eyes. I'm very lucky to have my twinnies in my life... very lucky indeed.

So yeah, that's my Mardi Gras experience. It was the most incredible night of my life. It made me so proud to be a gay man living in 2007 and made me so grateful for the friends and family that I have supporting me through life.

Here's to next year! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

It's Coming! It's Coming!

I promise to do a post about Mardi Gras ASAP (it's been renamed "The Most-incredible-night--on-record Party")... but first, I have exciting news to share.

KPaff is Famous! Mr Bean has been in Australia promoting his new film and our very own Karla was selected to be one of the faces of Australia's Surf Lifesavers... thus ending up all across the internet and the papers!

Check out below... we're so proud!