ben and i first met in the stale popcorned halls of cronulla cinemas and fell in love in the smelly streets of barcelona. a true tale of two cities. he is the father of the coolest sophie tribute party and has written for the guardian, vice, billboard, and so many more publications that we simply don’t have time to list. he’s the most charming person i know and so effortlessly cool- see!!! i don’t think i’ll ever stop having a crush on him.
ben:
To jump on as the inaugural guest of my wife’s substack, my girlfriend’s blog, my sister’s journal is a privilege I don’t take lightly. Writing for a newsletter is romance, it’s education, it’s thought-leader-vibes. I hope you take these recommendations as seriously as I did writing them, and I thank Jossalina Peterina for letting me jump on a newsletter that will change the world. (the world in my eyes is Sydney’s queer elite)
ben being hot
this is the internet bit
As the first Australian to ever relocate to London, immersing myself in British Culture is a necessary task to prove my allegiance to the monarchy/ kingdom/ country/ Beckham family. Whilst Come Dine With Me proved a surreal and raw depiction of UK suburbia that I scooped up with a spoon, what has my attention in a chokehold is BBC reality program The Traitors.
For the uninformed, 22 strangers are thrust into a Scottish castle where they must use their brains, brawn and British intuition to find who of the bunch are the secret traitors before they are murdered one by one!!!! (driven out of the castle in a range rover). These poor British people spend one night in this gorgina castle and go truly coo coo bananas. It’s Lord of the Flies cross Love Island, except the cast are varied in age and experience and mostly don’t look like they would’ve bullied you in high school.
I’ve spent weeks theorising with housemates about whether we’d be better at being a part of the faithfuls or a part of the traitors, and have fallen in love with characters like Maddy who made the bombshell (!!!!) reveal that she was in fact an actress with a capital A (played a homeless woman once on an English soap opera). The discovery of The Traitors will be for Anthropology majors what the discovery of photosynthesis was for scientists.
I’m aware this will be the second (2nd) reference to me living in London in this newsletter but it is my truth and I am a walking stereotype <3 As timezones remain one of life's most romantic cruelties, I’m often on my lunch break or on the overground home from work, yearning for a chat with friends from Australia, but chances are they’re sleeping beauties on the other side of the world. I have however, found a cure to my lunchtime/ commute home-sickness in the form of Vanity Project, a podcast from two Sydney Gays Laura and Charles whomst are the perfect level of cool and approachable. They discuss topics like World Pride and dissect Fashion Weeks in a way that’s podcast-funny, but feels refreshing and intimate, like I’m sitting at Freda’s with them drinking a sickly-sweet spicy marg while they drink martinis.
McKenzie Wark on Raving and the “Gentrification of Ketamine,” Interview Magazine
I find intellectualising and writing about raving akin to walking across a tightrope; there’s the potential to open up dialogue around the freedom of dancing in a club, the prospect of meeting new people, the allure of hedonism. However, fall off the tightrope and you’re the most insufferably annoying guy in the room talking about how you reached ego-death on a pill shaped like a Monster Energy drink logo. Michelle Lhooq’s interview with 61-year old New School Professor McKenzie Wark shows what can happen when you two-step across that tightrope and make it to the other side. An honest and beautiful conversation spanning decades of partying and an exploration of cities, gender and drugs. Wark describes the dance floor with an admirable frankness, “It’s not the revolution, it’s not utopia, but it’s not nothing.”
z. walsh for interview mag
this is the IRL bit
100 Boyfriends, Brontez Purnell
I must admit I was going to recommend another book that I read during the summer, after it was recommended to me by a saxophonist lover of mine (I don’t kiss and tell unless it’s for a newsletter). However, the creator of this very newsletter recommended it first (bitch) so now I have to recommend what I’m currently reading, which is 100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell. In this vaguely auto-fictitious set of short stories, Purnell takes us on a journey of his array of lovers, partners or co-workers he’s just had sex with in the office bathroom in a way that's frantic, sooooooo funny, but incredibly and often uncomfortably candid. As someone who is prone to referring to someone I’ve gone on one (1) date as my boyfriend, this book is speaking my language.
Wearing a birthday hat
Birthdays are for being the worst version of yourself while all of your nearest and dearest celebrate it as your best. It’s about narcissism, it’s about excess, it's about letting your goddamn hair down bitch! I wore a party hat to a rave on my birthday weekend at the beginning of this month and it was sexy and fun and ultimately the easiest conversation starter in the world. People looooooove wishing people a happy birthday, and honey….. when it’s yours? Have your cake and eat it too! I’d recommend wearing the party hat for a full week, announcing to anyone who asks that it is actually still your birthday and if they question you, accuse them of silencing a minority group (people whose birthdays are that day).
Having an impression
Impressions are one of the earliest forms of comedy, and honey have they stood the test of time! I think having an impression to pull out of your back pocket at a moments notice is clever and considerate. My impression of choice is a guttural Scooby Doo, and has improved my life and the lives of others in moments of reprieve. The joy of sitting in silence is a lie sold to us by big pharma, which is why you should find your Scooby Doo impression and repeat it hundreds and hundreds of times so you can watch the mere mention of Scooby force your closest companions to wince……. with jealousy. <3
ben in afformentioned birthday hat, winged by gianna and lily
Kiss kiss mwa mwa!