Graeme

Less than 25 posts to go before we reach 500 Now I have to say something interesting or informative... I did notice in LTMP chapter 15 that there's no mention of anyone wearing an Akubra Surely someone in Queensland would wear one.... Oh, well. Maybe I can help Dimitri with his digging. :pickaxe:

He claims that it's due to a flaky network connection from his phone and not really his fault...

Happy Birthday!

Oh my gosh! Dude! That's so exciting!!!! I'm so happy for you!!! WOW! I wish you both many years of happiness and love together! I seem to recall that that was your intention, but I'll echo Kevin's subdued response with an equally subdued: CONGRATULATIONS! :king: :king: (from left to right: Graeme, Colin, Doug, Kevin)

*yawns and stretches* Morning everyone! It's 6:30am here in Melbourne. We had a day of rain yesterday, which was much needed, but, unfortunately, it's not being continued today We need a lot more rain than just one day.... Time to get to work, and then find some time to read LTMP chapter 15....

The theory on hate crimes, as I understand it, is that they are penalising the motive because it impacts on more than just the victim. A hate crime is one that is supposed to intimidate/frighten/terrorise a group/class of people, even though only one (or more) of that group/class is the immediate victim. For example, an attack on an individual because the attacker doesn't like them has no significant impact on others (ignoring flow-on effects to friends/family), but an attack on an individual because they belong to a group means that the entire group is being threatened.

LOL -- congratulations to Perthonian for making me grin with the above post. I like his sense of humour

LOL -- tar and feathering is reserved for the goat when he uses evil cliffhangers I don't think it will be long, but I have to admit that I'm wondering what the hold-up is. I'm still hoping it's the new boyfriend who isn't letting Joe near a computer keyboard....

Okay, I've had enough I introduced my boys to Dire Straits on the weekend, and the Money for Nothing CD. Since the title song is about playing music (or wanting to), it feels appropriate to paraphrase the opening: I want my LTMP!

I've avoided discussing Australian politics here. Politics is generally avoided -- it's against GA rules -- because it's such a volatile subject. However, yes, I've already decided who I'll be voting for and it won't be Family First! EDIT: Just to explain, Australia has a federal election on Saturday. The two contenders to be the next Prime Minister of Australia are Kevin Rudd (Kevin 07 is his slogan, Krudd is the name used by some of his detractors) and John Howard (the incumbent). Family First is a relatively new political party that claims to have a family focus, but their definition of a family doesn't include same-sex couples.... Enough -- I won't say anything more on the topic. This is just to provide some context to the above posts for the non-Australian members.

They haven't been there yet -- we've spent our holidays, to date, on the Sunshine coast. They've only seen the theme parks on TV and from others at school have told them. Perth is no more boring than any other big city. My memories are old, but Kings Park(?) is supposed to be great, and the areas around Perth are excellent. I can remember spending a week at Esperance when I was a lot younger (my dad drove everyone across the country on an extended Christmas holiday one year), and other parts of the SW from that trip. My wife wants to go to Monkey Mia at some point, though I'm afraid that it might be getting too popular and will scare off the dolphins.

I've made no secret of that, as you can see from the first post in this thread. Thanks, BeaStKid And it's been an honour to have had the chance to get to know you and your culture, too Exporting native animals from Australia is, unfortunately, difficult. We have a few echidnas around our place from time to time. If you dropped in to visit, I won't look if you try to pick one up I'll even take you to the hospital afterwards Thanks, Razor You seem surprised.... Thanks, Jack

I went to Rottenest Island back when I was around 16. I loved it then and can still remember some of it (almost thirty years later). The most annoying part was that the shutter on the camera I took was broken so I ended up with no photos I remember the Quokkas, too. I haven't been back to Western Australia since then, but I'll take the family at some stage. At the moment, though, the boys are more interested in the Queensland theme parks

Peter Paige, who played Emmett. I thought the actor who played Michael was also gay, and several minor characters as well. I watched some of QAF, but it was while I was still in the closet. It was on at 10pm on a Monday night, so I would try to watch it while everyone else was in bed asleep. I saw most of series one (though not the first or last episodes) and some of the second series. I caught a couple of the third series episodes, but that was it. I really enjoyed it, and would like to see the whole thing, but it's not something I can sit down to watch with anyone else in my family so I doubt I'll buying the DVDs.

I had three to choose from. Kevin has a reputation, but he's been a lot quieter recently with only spurts of activity (like in the last couple of days). You've been reasonably consistent, though with a couple of breaks, and Benji has been making a late run for consideration. It really was a tough choice However, your nagging at me to vote was the decider -- only someone who wants the position so desperately would be so persistent and I thought you deserved the chance.

Another possibility is that it isn't an increase in hate crimes, but an increase in the reporting of hate crimes as the victims gain confidence that they'll be treated fairly. I'm not saying that that is the case, just putting it out there as a possibility.

They call it Schoolies on this side of the country, and I'm pretty sure Spring Break is for a different reason in the USA (though the behaviour can be similar). I was reading the other day about how lots of leavers descend on Rottenest Island. That's probably a good idea -- a small island overrun with teenagers celebrating the end of school. :wacko: Nothing could possibly go wrong....

Congratulations, Benji! I believe that record was held for a long time but it's finally been broken

Another Aussie! If anyone bites, let me know and I'll take care of it :mace: ... then again, maybe I shouldn't make promises that I probably can't keep :wacko: Anyway, welcome, Perthonian! I'm guessing you're from Western Australia, but you don't have to confirm that if you don't want to. Cheers! Graeme

:king: :king: Happy 18th Birthday, Colin! :king: :king: I'm not going to ask what your boyfriend is giving you for your birthday I'll just say that I hope you have a fantastic day and an even better year ahead!

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day, with many, many more fantastic days to follow.

It was indeed I thought we'd do it today (while I was away from the Internet), but it's surpassed my expectations! CJ always told me it was 42, so that means we have a new record holder -- congratulations, Benji! Time for me to go to bed...

Please note that there IS a Joe in the story already... and one that has a previous relationship with Chase. Maybe Brandon and Chase break up, and one of them ends up with Joe... and this story is just telling us the history of how that came to be? I think it's been too long since the last chapter. This is getting too off-beat, and I'm the one who started it...

Typo's and poor/complicated grammar can break the flow, but they don't take me out of the story. To take me out of the story, it would have to be something that appears to be illogical/irrational, or a weird twist that just appeared out of the blue. I remember a print novel (not gay fiction) where the later occurred. It was in the third book of a trilogy, and the story just went in a direction that was completely unexpected, and didn't fit the rest of the story (at least to me). It was an ending, but I felt cheated and disappointed because it felt like a cop-out. The twist seemed to be introduced just so they could bring the trilogy to a close, with no real foreshadowing in the story. On the other hand, weird twists CAN work at times, as long as there is at least a sense of consistency and rationality to them. I can also be taken out of story if it becomes something I prefer not to read. For example, I don't read horror stories and a story that became one unexpectedly would turn me off. I might be able to make myself finish it, but I wouldn't have the enjoyment I had while I didn't realise it would become a horror story.