Really Gone

It's the Mermaid Parade today. I LOVE the Mermaid Parade. Lots of freshly painted, uninhibited, joyful flesh twirling its way through the OTT streets of Coney Island. A photo op' at every turn and an atmosphere of pure joy. When we were in NYC I wouldn't miss it for the world and last year we had such fun we decided to take part ourselves - using my friend Kaiser's 60s Cadillac as the base of our float.

Fast forward a year and I'm canoing along the Huron. Kaiser is in Europe learning to make hats ahead of a move to Brazil. Our friends A&C are recovering from a trip up Everest with travel to somewhere else, J.Lum is in the throes of a job change and only our friend Mike is in a position to actually attend should he want to.

If I;d not been a moron I'd have been there right now. But I forgot. I'm terrible with dates - having learned to follow the reminders set by my B'Berry to the exclusion of everything else. But it's just another sign that things have changed. A 'must see' becomes a 'wish I had' becomes a memory of a different life in a different place.

Right gym, pilates, canoing, swimming, Netherlands in the soccer now I think

Jude got famous

365day064
Originally uploaded by stevenjude

I was looking through some images on Flickr this morning and I noticed a real spike in the number of people visiting this picture.

A little detective work showed that they were all coming from the same place.


This place


Weirdly (and without permission) Fox seem to have decided to use Jude as the poster girl for Vanity Sizing... weird

Cool though

Juiced

Originally uploaded by xdorjex

So last night we went to see "Bigger Faster Stronger*" at the Michigan theatre. A documentary in the early Michael Moore (it's very personal and involves mom, dad and three brothers) style it was really entertaining and threw up several questions that I thought could support a story on their own

- What happens when kids who have been promised that they are special grow up and start living lives that aren't?

- Why are drugs in sport cheating - but drugs in orchestral music (beta blockers), drugs to help kids concentrate at school and surgery to keep people looking good aren't?

- What does 'being the fat kid on the school bus' do to a child in later years?

- How did Arnie go from juiced teenager to Governator when others have been brought down by Pot?

Enjoyed the whole thing - but would really like to see a documentary on people who are dissatisfied with their lives purely because they were told to expect the extraordinary.

Minimalism and creativity

Lloyds - Boardroom 17
Originally uploaded by Interior Design Architecture Engineering | M Moser

My friends Kirstie and Will are writing a book on creative spaces... which I think is genius.

Mainly because there only seem to be two schools of thought on what makes a creative space at the moment.

It's either crazy, paint it orange and fill the room with crayons. Or it's paint it white, hide everything and create a canvas.

Neither of which are bad solutions to the 'how do we signal creativity?' but they're not the only way to do it. And I think that Kirstie and Will are going to make a huge impact and a ton of money on the idea.

I hope so anyway

Summer continues

Tents at Night
Originally uploaded by barzfam

So the summer continues... last night we walked down to watch some Brooklyn gymnasts cavorting in a paddling pool for the entertainment of a soon to be drenched audience.

Most amazing though was the way that the kids danced to what seemed to me to be pretty undancable music on the main stage. They were open and innocent and free. Just the way that they tell you kids are. And they stood in contrast to the Burrito laden, leaden bodies of their parents. I swear that if I had a kid I'd try to keep in good enough shape to keep up with their energy, their curiosity and their enthusiasm.

We saw a lot of 'tired parenting' in Cyprus - where the kids were wild with interest and the parents (usually dad) whined to call it a day and try again tomorrow, maybe. It was shocking and not just a little shameful.

Of course this mania of mine for physical fitness is being fed by my mania for the gym. I'm up to four times a week on weights, an extra night on cardio and two days of pilates. And while I'm starting to see a difference in the way that I look and feel I'm still reeling at the fact that the weight continues to get higher and higher.

Guess it's time to stop measuring health in pounds lost and instead look at inches lost, muscle gained and general strength.

Does Fabulously Fit sound too gay for a blog?

Tony Awards

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Originally uploaded by alycia715

It was the Tony Awards last night. A night where musical theatre gets to flaunt its peacock plumage on national television. An award ceremony where they wheel out Liza, rap their acceptance speeches (ok Lin-Manuel Miranda didn't rap, but he got as close as you're going to see on a Tony stage) and generally get to flaunt their 'same sex significant others' to the horror of gun owin' 'Mericans across the square states.

Camp as Christmas at Dollywood it was quite the show - but you have to ask... just who goes to Broadway these days. Sure the tourists whose pounds and Euros make $120 ticket prices seem reasonable; and young girls looking for a fix of glam' and something familiar (Legally Blonde anyone?) sent to Broadway by parents keen to keep them out of Bungalow 8 and off Page Six (parents don't know that Bungalow 8 is about as hip as LiLo these days)

I'm all for good theater - but what we have in New York is neither good nor affordable. It's expensive mediocrity peppered with celebrity names and / or pre-production recognition (revivals and movies) that seem to substitute energy for talent.

I sound like a dipped in vinegar theatre queen I know... but is it too much to ask for a Broadway show that's new, thoughtful, well acted and affordably priced? Or am I going to have to risk the freakshow tombola that is off-off-Broadway forever?

Body Image

Typography Silhouette
Originally uploaded by Steph Hillon

The weirdest thing about doing this whole body transformation is the need to lose my addiction to the bathroom scales. I've always know what I weighed to the nearest half pound - have celebrated my losses and mourned my gains.

But now I'm hoping to pile on muscle - which will mean weight gain. I'm already up a little while being able to crawl into clothes that wouldn't have fit me even last weekend and I'm finding it freaky.

How do I stop myself going on mad, drunken vacuuming of the refrigerator (don't suggest giving up booze) when weight gain is going to be the norm anyway?

Anyway just cardio today (as I watch Jude teach a friend how to swim) so I shouldn't wake up at a record high that will freak me.

The things we do for vanity, huh?