PlugInMatty

ok, you're probably not gonna believe this, but I don't actually have any gay friends. I have ex-boyfriends (who I don't talk to), I have gay friends of friends that I've almost been set up with, but I don't have a person that I actually hang out with who's gay. keeping that in mind... Common interests, I guess. I play sports, watch sports, enjoy live music and prefer pubs over clubs. Basically, I get labelled 'straight-acting', and I've yet to meet a gay guy (you know, an actual breathing one) who wants to watch a basketball game or hit the local for a couple of drinks on a Saturday night. Alternately, if I want to hang out and talk about hot boys, I do it with my straight female friends. If I want to talk about my writing or a particular gay issue, I do it with my best friend. She's female (and an artist). We talk about everything, she gets it. I don't need to worry about putting on my game face for her. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but I don't really think there's a gap in my life that would be filled by having a gay friend. Maybe there will be down the track, but as things stand, it's not something I'm really seeking at the moment. I get FREEDOM. I get to hang out and know that sex is never going to complicate our relationship. I don't have to read anybody's signals, I don't have to make any effort to be interesting and I don't have to worry about anybody's feelings. I don't really want to get drawn into stereotypes, but there's a lot of gay guys out there who are superficial. I don't want to talk about my wardrobe, my boyfriend or my sex life. Obviously, there's a whole lot of straight people out there who are just as bad, but you know what? I'm not friends with them either. No. My friends are my friends, no matter who they find themselves attracted to.

I remember writing something loosely based on Bruce Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia when I was younger I was bruised and battered and I couldnt tell What I felt I was unrecognizable to myself I saw my reflection in a window I didnt know My own face Oh brother are you gonna leave me Wastin

I tend to use eye contact as a weapon. if somebody is really cute, engaging or funny, then we can talk for hours and hardly break eye contact. if they're interesting or we have common interests, then I'll just keep feeding them questions all night and see where things go. we'll talk for ages, I'll find out all this stuff about them and they'll walk away feeling like they've made a new friend. and if you asked them to describe me to a stranger? they wouldn't have a f**king clue haha. I think it's an artform, actually. on the flipside, if somebody is talking at me, I will stare them down. no questions asked (literally). and if you're ever in an uncomfortable situation like that, a fail-safe way to make somebody uncomfortable is to stare directly at the tip of their nose. try on somebody one day, it works. either way, eye contact is a weapon.

Who Killed Channel Nine? is a non-fiction piece about the events leading to the demise of Australia's #1 television network, Channel Nine. Resisting temptation to simply recount events like inferior non-fiction pieces, Gerald Stone has very cleverly taken public figures and cast them as heroes and villains in the saga, creating a narrative in which the characters literally jump off the page. For example, the character of John Alexander (the real life boss of PBL) is portrayed as a slash-and-burn corporate executive whos lack of knowledge and contempt for television were directly responsible for Nine's downfall. His budget cuts decimated the news and current affairs division, while his arrogant demeanour resulted in the loss of various key staff to Nine's main rival, Channel Seven. From the moment he first appears, you know John Alexander is the villain. Alternately, the character of Kerry Packer is portrayed as a very ambiguous character. An arrogant, impulsive man with voyueristic flair and a penchant for lavish expenditure, Kerry Packer drifts effortlessly between hero and villain as he goes about the business of running Australia's #1 network. He is both the problem and its solution in a larger-than-life bundle of media savvy. What you never doubt, however, is that his heart is in the right place. He is the television romantic to Alexander's soul-less corporate. The book arguably loses a lot of its lustre when Packer passes away at its midway point. A multitude of public figures play supporting roles in this stories, not least of which was Eddie McGuire, the tv star turned executive whos stewardship saw Channel Nine lose its dominance as Australia's #1 network. Taking prominence from the moment of Kerry Packer's death, the character of Eddie is never fully developed by Gerald Stone, and the narrative suffers somewhat because of this. I find McGuire's character to be little more than a one-dimensional fall guy, which is particularly bizarre as he in the most prominent celebrity cast in this story. I guess the other thing that disappointed about this book was the lack of conclusions it drew. If you're gonna pose a question in your title, you're under obligation to answer it with your narrative. Stone never does this. He casts his key characters in a very black and white manner and retains a fast pace throughout, but he fails to draw a definitive conclusion as to who was responsible. Or perhaps this was a deliberate move... Who Killed Channel Nine? is the modern-day murder mystery of who felled Australia's premier media empire. It has all the makings of a dramatic conclusion, but gets hamstrung by the reality of its true conclusion. No single person was responsible for its death, because Channel Nine ultimately killed itself.

just finished reading 'Who Killed Channel Nine?' by Gerald Stone. Australian forumers in particular would be familiar with this book and the can of worms it opened, but I thought it actually lived up to the hype.

Hey guys, Regular reader, first time poster. What can I tell you about myself? I'm Matt, 21, uni dropout, ambitious to a fault and wasting my best years in Hobart, Australia. From a writing POV? Well I've worked for a few street presses over the years, but nothing of any great length until about 6 months ago. Since then, I've put together 8,000 words of utter crap and called it the beginning of my first novel. Chapter One's almost in the can, I'm sure you'll see that pop up on here at some stage. Somewhere down the track, I'd love an editor to tell me how it is, too. I've let a few friends read my works in progress, but I want somebody who'll have no hesitation in pointing out my shortcomings. I hope I've piqued somebody's interest. Outside of writing? I love my music, my iPod's in ALL THE TIME. I also enjoy... Ah f**K it, just read my blog. http://pluginmatty.blogspot.com/ Or add me on MySpace. http://www.myspace.com/icantbelieveitsnotmatty/ Add me on MSN too, if you want. tiger_fan_tiger_man@hotmail.com You'd better get used to this writing style, too. Short, sharp, punctuation is your friend. I like friends