The parade was an amazing splash of colour and homo-energy however I miss the artistry of the costumiers of past such as Ron Muncaster, Pip Playford and  Brenton Heath-Kerr. They delivered engineering marvels that made you wonder how they managed to manoeuvre the elaborate costumes all the way to the after party.  These creations often took a year in planning, months of work and hundreds of dollars in materials and were usually self funded out of the artist’s love of creating a show stopper.

To me, the current Parade is less about entries from individual artists and more about the group spectacle. On mass matching outfits and lots of flesh are the current show stoppers. The likes of Ethel Yarwood Enterprises and the team from the Mardi Gras Workshop sure foster a generation of new artists full of creativity – they take the ordinary and make it dazzling.

Pulling together an entry is a costly exercise. It’s not like 15 years ago where you could grab a truck and stick a bunch of near naked horny poofs and lessos on the back and enjoy your night. There is now insurance, equipment hire and driver fees to consider before you even think about how many hot bodies you can cover with 1 metre of pink sequence material.

This is where the increasing number of corporate floats pays off. They have the cash to splash as part of their marketing budget. The ANZ disco ball team was brilliant and I so wanted to board the Virgin bus for a touch of one-on-one in-flight safety instruction.

The glitter has washed from the parade route.  I have recovered from my crazy jog up Oxford street carrying camera equipment... yes, the tragedy of trying to be in two placed at once meant the guidetogay.com team had to chase the parade to head off the lead float! We were just having too much fun in the party atmosphere of the maze-like marshalling area.

Now I have had time to ask that all important questions:

“What am I going to wear to the Mardi Gras Party?”

There has been much debate about the separation of parade and party, but the big dilemma it provides for me is I don’t have a theme to dress for.

If the party has become another plain ‘circuit’ event, what do we girls wear? I know you guys have the jeans and shirts off combo to fall back on... the leather tribe have their erotic carnal coating... twinks slide into tiny lycra and sneakers... the asymmetrical haired young lesbians have their ruby-rose-esque leggings/singlets/vest combo...

So, do I continue the History of the World story or just come all gay’ed up?

Was it just pre parade delusion? Was i having a mental breakdown - or did a gorgeous boy talk dirty things in my ear asking why i was "filming the speedo clad asses' and 'what was i going to do with that microphone!' - as i was trying to set up a shot with the Lifesavers with Pride?

Noone from the team was around - JP was taking secondary shots, Lisa was wrangling the lifesavers to get them into position, but i swear - a man many photographer would have snapped a million shots of appeared and disappeared just as quickly as i stood there in the Marshalling Area of the Mardi Gras Parade...

Was it the slight compound psychosis of wanting to capture the best Mardi Gras footage to date, or was he actually a real person? Why am I even writing about it? Cos i know my team, i know alot of the pther photographers around town and NO ONE seemed to flinch or dive for their camera.... so was this guy actually even real?

Just shirtless, abs to kill for, and blue jeans… kick ass smile and a filthy mouth - the perfect Mardi Gras illusion?  lol

No photographic evidence of this person exists, and the the crew think I am insane - so the call goes out - if you are real - you asked where we were from - so you may read this -- my sanity depends on it, maybe you will be going to Mardi Gras party and you can appear again and proove i am not going nuts - i know the rest of the team would "LOVE" to meet you!

Did this happen to anyone else? Ghost? Spirit? Delusion? Will this 'phantom' appear next year in the marshalling area? Is this the start of a new Mardi Gras Legend?

Photo: Rob & Lisa up at the BGF Reserved Seating at the 2010 Mardi Gras Parade. Shot by www.deepfieldphotography.com

Is that a banana in my pants? Yes, yes it is. And it's wearing the fabulous Bacock Obama condom.

The Barack Obama stimulus pack of condoms keeps you Barock hard, and "safe through hard times." And they're strong enough to last a second term. Boom Tish!

Thanks to Derek Puleson from Graphic Armor, a funky us company custom make condoms, you can now get a President in your pants!

I was seriously thinking of getting some Guidetogay.com 'doms made, as alot of folk need a "guide" in that area... but then again, a block style logo may hurt, and really, noone wants my face on their knob... lol

I wonder when you take them off is it "repealing"? Or should we "don't ask, don't tell!"  ok, Rob is out of Puns...

(Photo by Thairin via wow)

A very cute animation from the web - sums up alot of people's lives don't you think?

You wouldn't think it from my Aussie inflection (well "strine") of voice, but my homeland (by family) is doing me more proud than my home at this stage…

The Isle Of Man, located between England and Ireland is considering civil partnerships - and it makes me feel so good.

Most of my family lives on that little island, and its a truly remarkable and beautiful place - like Scotland, the Isle Of Man has a separate constitution and government to the English mainland.

It has always been an open and welcoming place, and its great to see that it will be coming into line with the rest of the civilised world.

The Isle of Man's House of Keys will debate whether to introduce civil partnerships for gay couples on the island.

The Civil Partnerships Bill will have its first reading tomorrow and, if passed into law, will give gay and lesbian couples the same rights afforded to straight married couples.

Treasury minister Allan Bell said he hoped the bill would change perceptions of the island.

According to the BBC, he said: "I think we have a far more tolerant and understanding community on the Isle of Man. Gay relationships are considered as quite acceptable to most people.

"I think the other changes to legislation we have brought in, in relation to the gay issue, have brought the Isle of Man in line with the United Kingdom and indeed the rest of Europe.

"The stigma which we suffered very badly from in the early days has largely gone now and we can hold our head up high and claim we treat all our citizens as equal."

Homosexuality was illegal on the island until 1992 and the age of consent was equalised in 2006.

Currently, the Isle of Man partially recognises UK civil partnerships.

It's a massive step forward, and so much more advanced than Australia - where the issue is hopefully going to be given a conscious vote in the Senate this week - you can write to the PM to get this to happen.

http://www.pm.gov.au/PM_Connect/Email_your_PM

Here is a suggestion of what to write:

Prime Minster Rudd,

Australians who want to marry the one they love should not be discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality.
... See more
I urge you to please allow a CONSCIENCE VOTE on the Greens Marriage Equality Bill that will be debated this week in the Senate.

Kind regards,

(Your Name)