Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Ah, "Celebrity Chef", my favourite oxymoron.

Gay Adoption

Elton John in Tobago

https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/tobago-christian-leaders-want-elton-john-banned-idUSN26406779/

What a Dump!

Meanwhile, overheard at a somewhat lackluster Roman orgy near you, the man is exclaiming in Latin "Quid gurgustium" ("What a dump"), to which the woman appears to be concurring by responding "Me transmitte sursum Caledoni" ("Beam me up, Scotty"). 

Papal Platitudes

Tony Abbott Under Threat

At the time, Tony Abbott was the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives. He was known for his homophobic sentiments. In 2009, he infamously stated that he felt threatened by gay people. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-03-09/abbott-still-threatened-by-homosexuality/356168

Consul Sarah Palin

From the time of the 2008 US Presidential election.

Desalination

In God We Trust

From the time of the 2008 US Presidential election.

Recycled Sewage

At the time, Sydney's desalination plant had recently opened. Before construction commenced, the debate raged in  Parliament and within the community as to whether the best way to solve Sydney's then  water shortage problems was via desalination or recycled sewage. I was always in favour of the former option myself. Australia is an island, surrounded by great oceans on all sides. The city of Sydney sits upon the very shores of the vastness of the South Pacific Ocean. It seemed logical to me that we should go down the desalination route. And besides, the prospect of drinking recycled sewage never did much appeal to me. Yetch!

Cops are Tops!

I found myself behind a police car at traffic lights the other day, when I noticed a "Cops are Tops" sticker adhered to the back bumper. "Hmm," I thought to myself, "Self praise is definitely no recommendation."

Damien Hirst's New Clothes

 

' "But he hasn't got anything on", a little child said.'

 From "The Emperor's New Clothes"

by Hans Christian Andersen

Homophobic Peter Jensen

At the time this cartoon was created, the outspoken Peter Jensen was the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.

https://theconversation.com/attention-peter-jensen-homosexuality-doesnt-kill-but-homophobia-can-9589

Jesus Never Mentioned It

Peter Jensen was the outspoken Anglican Archbishop of Sydney.

https://theconversation.com/attention-peter-jensen-homosexuality-doesnt-kill-but-homophobia-can-9589

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged

Julia Gillard's Coiffure

Julia Gillard was the first female Prime Minister of Australia. She faced much unjust criticism regarding personal matters that would never be leveled at a man. 

Kevin Rudd's je ne sais quoi

This cartoon is from 2007, at the height of Kevin Rudd's popularity, when he was elected Prime Minister of Australia. As it turned out, I must have had a premonition, because he rapidly became just about as popular as a bad case of herpes with the Electorate and was ousted from office by his own Party. His removal ultimately made way for the election of Australia's first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, in 2010.

Sapphic Dilemma

Perfection

Why Is It So?

Abstract Fundamentalists

Unjust Picket

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

My tribute to Australian actor, Heath Ledger, following his tragic death at the age of 28, on 22 January 2008. I knew little of him up until the time I first saw "Brokeback Mountain" with my friend George Chamberlain at Broadway cinema in Sydney, on the day of its Australian release, the Australia Day public holiday - 26 January 2006. It was to be a life-changing experience for me. I left the cinema in tears and found myself in tears, on and off, for weeks afterwards, something I later found also happened to many other people worldwide. I think it had such a profound impact on me because I could relate so intensely to the characters of both Ennis and Jack in the film. I saw myself as being very much like Jack in the "It'd be some sweet life" sense, and like Ennis following Jack's death, locking himself away from reality. I subsequently saw the film many more times at the cinema. I also bought the book, DVD, movie poster and music CD. And I joined an American-based, worldwide "Brokeback Mountain" on-line chat forum of like-minded "Brokies" called "Bettermost", where I was to become a moderator. I've lost count of the number of times I've read the original short story by Annie Proulx. No other film has ever had such an enormous impact on me.

Collective Celebrity Chefs

I propose making "Baloney" the new collective noun  for celebrity chefs. Yep, "A baloney of celebrity chefs"! Sounds good to me!

The Sin of Presumption

And speaking of Fred Nile, Peter Jensen and Peter Akinola . . .

Pitiful Fred Nile

The Reverend Fred Nile was a clergyman and also a Member of Parliament in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He had clearly never heard of the separation of powers. He was an outspoken homophobe, who had been attending the Sydney's Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade for many years, in order to pray for rain.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell

Happy Gays!

Sex in the City

Tony Abbott's Budgie Smugglers

Tony Abbott is an ex-Prime Minister of Australia who was known to strut about in public dressed solely in a tiny pair of budgie smugglers, barely concealing his modesty. So unbecoming a man of his illustrious status. Sometimes it's preferable to retain a sense of mystery, Mr Abbott.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-08/budgie-smugglers-officially-added-to-oxford-english-dictionary/7580368

Spain's Transsexuals

Paris Hilton's Credibility

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

Archbishop Peter Jensen was the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney in Australia. His theology is of a particularly virulent, fundamentalist strain and he has spoken out with some considerable venom and spite against such issues as the consecration of female bishops and gay rights. It would appear to be a case of "do as I say, not as I do" for Archbishop Jenson, however, because not long after his consecration in 2001, he "was accused of nepotism after appointing both his wife (Christine) and his brother (Phillip Jensen) to official positions in the Sydney diocese" (Wikipedia). So much for Archbishop Jensen's exemplary moral virtue! 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-more-the-holier-another-jensen-leads-flock-20021118-gdftzc.html

Nepotism Defined

Pickled Damien Hirst

I love modern art! Kandinsky, Rothko, Mondrian, Picasso, Chagall, et al. They are towering artistic geniuses of the modern era. They produced profoundly beautiful, inspirational paintings, for us all to love and cherish for ever. Alas, the same cannot be said for Damien Hirst's dead animals, hacked to pieces and floating in vats of formaldehyde. It's a cheap confidence trick at our expense. We only have ourselves to blame, for allowing our standards to be so shamelessly compromised.

Oxymoronic Celebrity Chefs

"Celebrity Chef" is my all-time favourite oxymoron. My second favourite is "Graffiti Art".

Gay Show Tunes

Archbishop Peter Akinola's Fantasy

Archbishop Peter Akinola was a senior prelate within the Anglican Church. I find it absolutely inconceivable that a man in such an exalted position of trust within the worldwide Anglican communion could make such a hate-filled, bigoted remark. Millions of people look-up to Archbishop Akinola and accept blindly what he says as the word of God. It would be simple to dismiss him as an ignorant, mindless bigot, who is more to be pitied than blamed. Alas, however, nothing could be further from the truth. He has enormous influence within his community. He will have to stand before his God one day.  

Hard-bitten Westboro Baptists

Westboro Baptist Church's deranged battle cry, with a vampiric twist. 

The Content of Barack Obama's Character

From the time of the American election in 2008, inspired by the famous words of Martin Luther King.