I don't know why....

...but this image has appealed to a few people.

An Overnight Stay

Sunday was an absolute delight with a nice mix of people joining Robert and Ian for a buffet in Hove. The weather was gorgeous and as I was on holiday this week, Sean booked us into a small hotel in Brighton for the night. It was an absolute joy to hang around the town on a Monday morning and to check out all the shops and boutiques without crowds.

A small tanning salon in the gay quarter caught our eye for some reason.... apparently there was 15% off!

I took quite a few of these images as the wreck of the old pier is quite a sight. I shall try and do something arty with them.

I also took a few of these for the same reason. After the sight-seeing we headed to Harry Ramsden's for Fish and Chips and then hit the shops. I bought some blue jeans - 34" waist, slim fit - and two very nice Summer Shirts. As you can see from the picture below, Sean is carrying the bag of shame!

The Journey To Brighton....

...begins with a walk through Crystal Palace Park. The entrance directly opposite my road is titled as above, which always makes me smile when I see it. Note, I had the lenses in this day!Crystal Palace Park is truly a beautiful part of London and I cannot imagine why I never visited here before.

The lakes are small but terribly pretty and there is plenty of room to simply chill out with just the sound of the geese and trickle of a waterfall to disturb you.


Perhaps the biggest thrill of all are the dinosaurs, which must send kids into a frenzy when they see them for the first time. I know I fell in love with them when I used to see them from the Crystal Palace train.

Of course, for me the best thing in Crystal Palace Park is the National Sports Centre. An ode to Seventies architectural design, it has recently been undergoing a refurb that thankfully, doesn't ruin the fabric of the building. Today was some sort of big Triathlon Day and hundreds of people seemed to be taking part. I, on the other hand, was heading to Clapham Junction, extremely surprised not to be nursing a hangover, to meet Sean and take the train to Brighton.

Men and Meat

I was looking forward to Simon and Cassy's party for such a long time as it would be the first time I'd seen them since February. Both put on a fine party and this year I managed to stay for longer than three hours. As with last year, there was some striking totty on show and the weather - well, perfect. I must have mixed about 10 different batches of cocktails inc. White Ladies, Strawberry Dacquari's and of course Cosmopolitans. I left at about 10pm and the 249 bus goes all the way to Crystal Palace, which was really handy.

I am not sure who looks more scared.

Hollie, Trannies and Saying 'No'

I had a particularly bizarre evening yesterday. To begin with, Scott and I ventured to the Roundhouse in Camden to witness the launch of Hollie Steele's first album. For those of you who might not know, Steele was a finalist on Britain's Got Talent last year and her 'act' is having an unusually powerful vocal range for such a small child. To see her perform live is actually very odd as she hits all the right notes and yet doesn't have the maturity to emotionally connect to the lyrics. Should her range mature properly, she may become an interesting vocalist in the future but at the moment she is, in the nicest possible sense, a curiosity.

After this I dragged Scott, if you'll pardon the pun, to Tranny-oke at Escape in Soho. I don't know why but the drag and tranny world don't bother me in the slightest, as it can with some gay men although I have absolutely no interest in dressing up - other than professional curiosity, natch. In my humble opinion there is little difference between the 'cocks in frocks' at Escape and the 'pricks in plaid' down at Comptons. This said, Escape was remarkably empty and although I got to sing (badly) once, the whole evening seemed desperately slapdash. I shall try again in a few weeks, when Stacie Dee is back in town from LA.

Anyway at about 11.00 it was time to head home and I thought I would catch the bus (176) as it was a nice evening. I didn't have to wait too long for a bus to come along but whilst waiting at the bus stop, two guys started hitting on me. Big time! All the way home on the bus, they were chatting me up and inviting me back to their place for a threesome. I demurred, politely but as the bus hurtled through late-night Forest Hill they came on stronger and stronger. I thought it best to say, plainly, that nothing was going to happen. They tried it on even harder! It suddenly occurred to me that - horror of horrors - they might get off at my stop. One of them even began to explain that as they had come all this way, we should go to my place! The look of utter disbelief on their faces when I got up and got off the bus at Sydenham was an absolute picture.

Mon Homme

From a feature in Attitude, no less.