Playtime – issue 1043

Boys

GAY NUDISTS
Gay Sydney Nudists is a social organisation for gay or bisexual male nudists. It hosts parties at members’ homes, dinners at restaurants, harbour cruises and any other legal activities the committee decides upon. info: To join the group, call 4972 5357 or email [email protected]
MEN’S GROUP
Impotence Australia is offering HIV positive gay men a free four-week men’s group in November, dealing with living with HIV and self-esteem. The  group will run for two hours every week during the day (hopefully on a Wednesday) in the Surry Hills/Redfern area. All are welcome to apply to attend. To apply, call Gerry North on 0411 368 142 or email Brett Mc Cann at Impotence Australia at [email protected]
PICNIC BEAR
As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, come join the Harbour City Bears for another picnic, this time in the inner west at Sydney Park. The Bears will meet from 12.30pm on October 23 where the chimney stacks are near the newly built playground, across the road from St Peters train station. Everybody welcome. BYO food. Some drinks will be supplied.
MODEL OPERATOR
Melbourne menswear label Orri Henrisson has teamed up with Matt Jordan, aka the Style Tyrant, and queer Operator Please bassist Ashley McConnell for the new SS/11 collection. Henrisson designs the clothes, McConnell models them, and Jordan shoots them. Visit www.orrihenrisson.com to see the results.
BETWEEN THE COVERS
Melbourne artist and photographer Ross Watson has published a sumptuous new hardcover book through gay erotica publishers Bruno Gmunder. Untitled # features more than 150 of Watson’s paintings and photographs spanning the past 15 years. Included in the book is an interview with Watson by Michael Kirby. info: www.rosswatson.com

Clubs

HOUSE PARTY
House lovers, get ready for House of House in the Vortex level at ARQ on Friday, October 15. All the best house music around, played by DJs Jake Kilby and Justin Scott until the sun comes up. CD giveaways throughout the night. Entry is $10, but check the event page on Facebook for a half-price voucher. Doors open 9pm.
CLASSIC LEVI
Deep Disko at the Colombian Hotel presents a show from one of Australia’s most talented DJs and producers, Levi 5Star, on Sunday October. Michael Wheatley will be singing live accompanied by Vincent Sebastian on percussion. Get down early for $10 premium cocktails served from 6pm.
FACTION PACKED
The brainchild of DJ Mark Alsop and DJ Ensel, Faction is a new monthly event at the Oxford Hotel’s Underground Bar that aims to ‘showcase the underground sounds and influences that make up the foundation of today’s dance music’. The premier event kicks off at 10pm on Saturday, October 16. $10 entry, with limited Faction memberships available on the night.
TRANCE TO THE BEAT
Finally, a trance night specifically designed to answer your feedback: you asked for it — you got it. Trance Factory, at ARQ on October 15, is a night of trance that’s purely uplifting, vocal, melodic and camp. Sydney stalwart Luke Leal mans the decks along with trance aficionado DJ Stephen Simpson. Doors open 9pm, $10 entry, half-price with printable Facebook voucher.

Community

RIGHTS IN ART
Same-sex marriage rights campaign activist Farida Iqbal is a finalist in the Live Red Art Awards, to be held at the Addison Road Community Centre on Sunday, October 17. Iqbal is a Canberra activist whose drawings utilise such egalitarian materials as cardboard to portray her experience of political struggles including some the same-sex marriage rights campaign, the free Burma campaign, and the anti-nuclear movement. info: http://liveredartawards.net
HELPING ACON
ACON needs to make 30,000 red ribbons to sell around NSW on World AIDS Day to raise money for vital support services for people with HIV. Join other volunteers for a fun day from 10am-5pm on October 14, or just come along for a few hours. There’ll be sandwiches and other snacks plus tea and coffee. It’ll run at the Luncheon Club, 77 Kellick St, Waterloo, Sydney.
BUDDY WALK
To mark Down Syndrome Awareness Month this October, Down Syndrome NSW will host its annual Buddy Walk, which aims to raise understanding and inclusion of people with Down Syndrome. A free event, the Buddy Walk is on Sunday, October 24, starting at First Fleet Park, Circular Quay at 9.30am. It will cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge and finish with a picnic at Bradfield Park, followed by a concert for Down Syndrome NSW’s 30th anniversary.
COME OUT
Come Out Southern Sydney will host a BBQ at Gunnamatta Bay Reserve from noon on October 24. The reserve is located on Nicholson Pde, Cronulla, a five-minute walk from Cronulla train station. Look for the rainbow flag. It’s $10, which covers the cost of the BBQ and a range of salads. BYO salads. For info or to find the group on the day, call Alex on 0439 730 414.

Free

MARKET CYCLES
The Taylor Square Spring Fair celebrates sunshine, community and great food each Saturday until November 6. As well as the awesome coffee and farm-fresh produce at the regular Farmers Market stalls, each Saturday you’ll discover some special events. On October 16, the Slow Food Youth Movement will host a foodie cycling tour of the 2010 food precinct (and pedalling through the Farmers Market). info: www.sydneysustainablemarkets.org
OPEN HOUSE
After a huge attendance of 55,000 people last year, the Sydney Opera House opens its sails again on Sunday, October 24 and invites everyone to discover the magic inside. Lose yourself in the grandeur of the Concert Hall, meander through the labyrinth of backstage corridors, relax in the green room, experience light, sound and aerial shows in the Western theatres and peek inside the dressing rooms used by the stars who perform here. Register today to secure your entrance to the House at www.sydneyoperahouse.com
BANNER GALLERY
A large scale outdoor photographic exhibition is showcasing a day in the life of Sydney’s villages, with the faces of 100 Sydneysiders proudly lining the city’s streets over the next month. Sydneysiders captured in Redfern, Waterloo, Surry Hills, Circular Quay, Darlinghurst, Newtown, Darling Harbour, Erskineville, Kings Cross and Potts Point feature on the 400 street banners which are 4.5metres long x 1.5metre wide and make up The Banner Gallery.

Girls

CHICK PICKS
Six Quick Chicks is a rollercoaster hour of character-driven comedy, quick fire repartee and burlesque, and it was one of the must-see shows at this year’s Sydney Comedy Festival, with half-a-dozen feisty females vying for the audience’s attention. Back by popular demand, the Chicks (including Vashti Hughes, pictured) are performing on October 14 at Slide.
BREAST BENEFITS
Every Wednesday night in October, indie folk darlings The Falls are hosting a fundraiser for the National Breast Cancer Foundation called Folk You Cancer*#@! — Singing for a Cure, showcasing some of Sydney’s finest female singer songwriters. Entry is free, and it’s happening each week at the cosy Hotel Hollywood pub in Surry Hills. Grab some mates, enjoy the show, and dig deep for a great cause. info: www.musicfromthefalls.com
CORONATION
Ten years ago, aspiring rappers Kween G and Belizean Bombshell met when they were both performing at the Sydney Olympics. Thus the Killaqueenz were formed — a fierce rap duo carrying the torch for the likes of Salt N Pepa and Missy Elliott. To celebrate their decade as musical partners, the ladies are holding a special anniversary show at the Ladies Love Hip-Hop party at the Tone in Surry Hills on Friday,  October 22. Everyone on the night gets a free copy of the Queenz Sisterhood album too.

On screen

KINO KABARET
Kino Sydney is now calling for participants for Sony Kino Kabaret 2010, a series of filmmaking marathons, screenings and parties across Sydney, October 19–23. No previous filmmaking experience is necessary: it’s a way for everyone to have a go at making a video and screening it to a large audience. It’s like bringing YouTube out of the bedroom and into a social context. Registrations are open until October 15. info: www.kinosydney.com
WOW!
The 17th WOW (World of Women) Film Festival is calling for entries for fiction, documentary, animation, digi-vodules and student films of fewer than 55 minutes duration with key creative input by women from Australia and around the world. WOW 2011 aims to be a festival of discovery, celebration, debate, networking and an inspiration for new work. For more information and to download guidelines and entry forms, visit www.wift.org/wow
SPRING SCREENINGS
Merivale venues Ash Street Cellar, the Beresford Hotel and Slip Inn welcome the warmer nights of spring and summer by bringing back their popular film nights. Each venue is transformed into an intimate outdoor cinema space with films showing on Monday nights at Ash Street Cellar and the Beresford, and Tuesday nights at Slip Inn. Films will screen after sunset. For a full list of films, visit www.merivale.com

Pubs & Bars

SHAKE IT UP
Cargo Lounge will host the annual Freestyle Cocktail Sessions on Wednesday, October 13, inviting the country’s 10 best star-tenders to showcase their talent behind the bar. The hopeful contenders will join Australian Hotels Association Australian bartender of the year Stewart Luk on his home turf at Cargo Lounge in the hopes of wooing the judges and guests. Tickets for the evening, $40, are available from www.cargobar.com.au
NEW VENUE
Oxford St welcomes a new venue with the opening of the Mediterranean, a Greek-themed bar and restaurant at Level 1, 31-33 Oxford St. While the venue isn’t strictly gay, owners have plans for drag shows, gay speed dating and other gay events once it’s up and running.
THE X FACTOR
The next instalment of the Pollys Club, to be held on Saturday, October 16 at Marrickville Town Hall, will feature a glamorous X Factor-themed show starring all your favourite Pollys performers. The night kicks off at 7pm, with a shuttle bus to the Taxi Club operating later in the night. Tickets, $18/25, can be booked from [email protected] or by calling Craig on 9519 7266. info: www.thepollysclub.com.au

Stage

KILLER COMEDY
What would make you murder someone: money, revenge, justice? Residents of the Riddle Key retirement community start dropping like flies when three unrelated individuals are driven to commit murder. Each has an idea for the perfect murder in this delightful, funny and surprising play from the writer of one of the Ensemble’s hit productions of 2009, Tuesdays With Morrie. Murderers plays at the Ensemble until November 20. info: www.ensemble.com.au
STAGE SONGS
Songs from Stage to Screen is a concert showcasing the best songs from some of your favourite musicals, presented by Strathfield Musical Society. Hear your favourites, including Masquerade (Phantom), One Day More (Les Mis), The Winner Takes It All (Mamma Mia) and many more. The show will have four performances at the Latvian Theatre, Strathfield on October 22 and 23. Bookings: 9797 6658.
OH JESUS
The original Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice rock opera sensation will rise — and rock — at Riverside Theatres when Riverside Lyric Ensemble presents an original revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. Featuring memorable songs like I Don’t Know How to Love Him and Superstar, the production runs October 22-30. info: www.rle.org.au