Devdas

I love Bollywood films. One of my favourite Bollywood moments is the final scene in Devdas, the recent (2002?) version with Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, and Madhuri Dixit in the leading roles.

Two of my favourite Madonna Videos

Rain



Open you heart

Haulover Beach

One of my favourite beaches is in Haulover Beach Park in Florida, sort of mid way between South Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

This has been a favourite Christmas and New Year place for us for quite a few years.

The beach has its own community and newsletter and of course being the states a website
http://www.hauloverbeach.org/

The Library in the Monastry of San Francisco - Lima

One of my favourite places in Lima. This old library in Convento de San Franscisco is a real gem.

Durham Cathedral

Durham is high on my list of favourite places having spent three very happy years their at university many many years ago.
It is also the place where I developed a taste for very very dry sherry!

Tio Pepe

What is life without a chilled glass of Tio Pepe?

http://www.tiopepe.co.uk

Frans Cafe

Looking for a coffee or a light snack in Sao Paolo, Brazil? Well Frans cafe on Haddock Lobo near the junction with Av Paulista is high on my list of recommendations.





This 24 cafe, part of a chain, has really nice staff, and is very GLBT friendly - right down to the free publications it carries for customers. Internet access as well and a great place for people watching. What more could you want?

Check out their website at: www.franscafe.com.br/

Walsingham

Walsingham was a major shrine to the Virgin Mary in the UK before the reformation. The small village is now a centre for Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox christians. The Anglican shrine is focussed on a replica of the original Holy House that formed part of the original shrine.



In part of the pilgrimage complex is another chapel which is dominated by an art work by David Begbie which using metal mesh creates stunning images and shadows. This was the first work I had seen of Begbie's.

More example of his work are on his website at
http://www.davidbegbie.com/

Playa Chihuahua, Punta del Este, Uruguay

One of my favourite beaches in Uruguay at Punta del Este. The beach stretches for miles backed by pine trees and a brackish freshwater lake. Playa Chihuahua is one of the few naturist beaches in South America - perhaps not surprising it is in Uruguay! Sadly not all the users look like this!

This Youtube clip is a short news item on the Chihuahua beach (in Spanish)

shreenathjee

One of the most unusal places I visited in India was the Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara. Shrinathji is one of the representations of Krishna and this is a major shrine for a particular sect within Hinduism. The temple itself is home to a very important image which is dressed and displayed to the faithful in events called Darshans. The garments used represent different stages in the day and times of year.

The temple is managed with a ritual day that reflects Rajastani palace life in the early medieval period. A form of artwork has developed which represents the image during the Darshans. These paintings, called Picchvai, are very popular devotional aids and beautiful pieces of art. The picture shows one of them.

The Temple has a website in Hindi at http://shreenathjee.com/

Le Gai Moulin

10 rue Saint Merry, 75004 Paris. My favourite restaurant in Paris found by chance during a trip in the early 90s

Sarita Colonia

While in Lima I visited the grave of Sarita Colonia. Described as the patron saint of homosexuals, bus drivers, taxi drivers, job seekers and migrants is Sarita Colonia who was born in Lima in 1926 and died in 1952 and is buried in Cementerio Baquijano in Callao.

A lot more about her and the cult that has developed around her at
http://arturovasquez.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/sarita-colonia/#more-422

Some Photos I took of this rather strange place

Cycladic Art

I first came across these cycladic figures when living in Greece in the early 80s. I was fascinated by them, particularly this head which I had only seen in reproduction prior to visiting the archeological museum in Athens. Part of the fascination had been the lack of eyes - during that trip to Athens I saw that they originally had painted features.

Querelle

This is an amazing film - I have never been able to manage the book but the film by Fassbinder is captivating. The two Youtube clips below show the section where Q pretends to lose at dice in order to find a way of surrendering to his sexuality while trying to maintain some sense self image.

Sugar Baby Love

I really like this French AIDS awareness advert as it gives much more than just the AIDS awareness message.

The Stone Pickers

The Stone Pickers by Sir George Clausen (1852-1944)is my favourite painting in the Laing Gallery in Newcastle. Clausen was one of the primary modern artists of landscape and of provincial life, shaped to a certain degree by the impressionist art movement.

Beagles

Well I have got two so not unexpected.

Saint Sebastian

Lots of connections with things I like here -

Rio in Brazil - Sebastian is patron saint of the city.



Literature - Sebastian in Brideshead Revisited and the mystery of Sebastian's death in Suddenly Last Summer



Film - Derek Jarman's Sebastian



Paintings - a great collection at
http://picasaweb.google.com/javier.arnott/SanSebastiN

Two of my favorites not included in this collection of photos are by Tsarouchis and the Colombian artist Manzur

Easter Island

Visited Easter Island as one stop off on a round the world trip. The stone heads are really amazing close up and the island so beautifully desolate once you got away from the main town and the tourist tat.

French and Saunders

Parque El Virray

Saturday and Sunday mornings I am usually in Parque El Virray with out dogs. Perhaps not the most wonderful park in the world - long and thin. Stretching between Calle 7 and the Autopista Norte but I really enjoy walking through it in the morning



After walk - well breakfast in Cafe Illy on the ground floor of the Hotel Charlotte overlooking the park and on Sunday packed with Cyclists and dogs.



There are a few interesting buildings around the park. I think this is one of the most elegant apartment blocks in Bogota.



This odd little house on the park with its sculptures on the terrace has made me curious about the owners.

And then finally there is Paco, el Rey, has he was described in a local paper. A stray who lives in the park and has won hundreds of friends.

Bogota Cyclovia

One of the things I like about Bogota is the Cylovia. Every Sunday and most bank holidays the main roads are closed to traffic and everyone gets on their bikes and skateboards. The whole thing is supervised by young volunteers in rather nice yellow and red uniforms.

Sunbaker - Max Dupain

This is one of my favourite photographs by Max Dupain - iconic of Australia the shape of the figure reminds me of Ayre's Rock

Gormley

I really love the photos of Andrew Gormley's installation of statues in Liverpool even though the figures seem so remote and lonely.

Bar Banal - Thessaloniki

Bar Banal in Thessalonika, owned by Iraklis Doukas, was a little piece of Greek gay history. It was the first gay bar I ever visited.



I remember how traumatic going there the first time was for me, perhaps why I remember Peter Gabriel's Shock the Monkey playing as I was let in.

Sadly long gone.

Peter Gabriel - Shock the Monkey

Winged Spirits - Yannis Tsarouchis

I am really fond of the paintings of Yannis Tsarouchis a famous Greek 20th Century artist - particularly the paintings of Winged Spirits or, as I like to call them, butterfly boys. The Tsarouchis Foundation has turned his house in Athens into a museum which I always try to visit when in Athens - which is very rare these days. Those visits are always a little sad as they take me back to my first visit while Tsarouchis was alive and it was a home of sorts not a musuem.

Foundation Museum site http://www.tsarouchis.gr/
Facebook page for Tsarouchis with an exhibition and links to other sites featuring his work.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yannis-Tsarouchis/24472611733