I suppose by now, I’ve been lucky enough to have been taken to many wonderful events including shows, concerts, corporate and sporting events.  When he was alive, my dad was a big fan of watching test cricket, English Soccer and Tennis and I have always wanted to go to a live cricket game. And it’s always more way more fun when an event also come with a few bells and whistles (hell, might have mentioned I’m a tad shallow before –just like the other 99% of the population). 

So, my time finally arrived the other night when Mr Sports-Fan-Extraordinaire invited me to a 20/20 game of cricket at ANZ stadium. 

It was a pretty awesome occasion because it also turned out Karen Thompson Enterprises was persuasive enough on this occasion to organise her way into a lovely catered box with an awesome view of the proceedings. 

However, it’s probably also fair to say there is no glamour in parking in P4 and busing it with everyone else to the stadium but this this was a big game with a huge crowd of 56000, and well, you tend to find your transport options are rather limited.

The god of weather (whoever that is) was not very kind on this occasion and the sky opened up with a downpour several times and my cricket education began as a very enthusiastic group of busy workers rushed out onto the field and quickly covered the wicket with massive and heavy looking tarpolins so the ground wouldn’t get wet. 

I was impressed at the organisation of these busy guys, who worked very quickly and effectively in teams, getting the ground covered up. Unfortunately these guys services were required several times during the evening with the onset of  patchy rain.

The refreshments started to arrive and a fine array of wonderful food came out and around. I particularly enjoyed the Chicken Tikka Masala, the food was mostly Indian themed and even though it didn’t really resemble the food I had consumed in Goa last month it was a decent nod at it.

Mr SPE helpfully explained the rules of the game along the way and before I knew it I was getting into the flow of things.

The sounds of the Vintage Australian Super-group Sherbet belted out the cricket anthem “HOWZAT”.  Mr SPE explained that the term actually meant when someone is caught out in Cricket the term HOWZAT is called as part of an appeal, and the referee makes a decision but usually ‘They are then out’! Mm-mm recently I encountered a very negative force, a liar, cheat, thief, and ”it just isn’t Cricket”, mmmm, yup… ”HOWZAT!”

At this stage the box was buzzing and this shortened form of the game was intense and very exciting.  The Batsmen on both teams were just hitting the ball with everything they had and the competition was hotting up.

Perhaps Cricket Traditionalists would be shocked at this modern style of the game but it was fast paced and exciting.  Adding to the energy when fours and sixes were hit was the loud music blaring around the stadium, bursts of fire and hot moves by the KFC dancers (appropriately Bollywooded out for when India scored).

Half time arrived as did a great fireworks show that added to atmosphere, however the rain made it quite smoggy for a few minutes there. By now I’d had a couple of glasses of wine and was feeling quite light headed and flirty and was very much enjoying the company of Mr SFE

The best part of the game was the last few overs and India were desperate to catch the Aussie boys.  The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and the Indian fans made the night fun and really memorable.  I understand they take the sport of Cricket very seriously in India as every taxi driver I met over Christmas on finding out I was from Australia would want to talk about the Australian Cricket team.  Ten minutes before the end of the game it became very clear that the Indian team just couldn’t beat the high score set by the Aussies.

Mr SFE winked and nudged me as he pulled out his Pullman suite key.  Even though sport is his life he recognized that this part of the evening was reserved for some tandem intimate indoor athletics and we both quietly snuck out of the box and headed to the Pullman stadium, I mean hotel.  Once again the rain pelted down and by the time we got to the hotel we were both drenched.  It was a good excuse to get our clothes off very quickly.  A great strategic move that one.  Thanks to Mr SFE I learnt quite a few cricket terms that night.

I can’t wait until he takes me to my next sporting event and if it is a cricket match, well I’m practically now an expert.

Gaa! moving– so I’ve decided to move.
In fact, there’s lots been going on at KTE.

Mmmm here’s a lesson learnt, it seems it’s important to make oneself somewhat accessible to prospective clientele so after many months of renting hotels and serviced apartments for escort work I’m permanently moving to the city.
This is probably the most excellent decision I have made all year.

So, as every escort knows neighbours can be a bit of a problem when doing private sex work. Currently, I live in inner west surburbia where stickynose neigbours spend way more time outside their front door than inside of it. Most of my neighbours love to have people over and there is always a fair amount of foot traffic in common areas. Some of them have religious pics on their doors and I imagine someone like me offends their sensibilities as I flounce down the stairwell, all made up, perfumed and coiffed in 5 inch heels, tight low cut dress, wheeling an overnight bag, making men happy, working my own hours, leading an interesting life and generally having a great time.

Anyway so I’m going. Bah!
Thank you to everyone who has kept in touch and supported me while my advertising has been down, I suppose I’ve felt like I’ve been living in a self imposed exile a bit and it meant a lot to me that you made that effort.

And I’m very excited about the future!

In very early December I should be installed in my new place which is close to Central. It’s been about 13 years since I last lived in the city (Ultimo) and it will be great to enjoy that lifestyle once again.

I booked a fortnight trip to India at Xmas, it’s been 18 years since was last there and that was a two week backpacking holiday. This will be a very different adventure. I’ve never been to the west coast and can’t wait to see Mumbai and Goa.

Finally, I’ve just done new pictures and they should be up around very soon, that’s pretty exciting!

Move on up!

It was a pretty happy adventure when ‘The Masseuse’ (TM) suggested that we take in the Jersey Boys show last weekend.  The idea was that we go to the show before we head out for a meal and spend overnight together for the second time in a month. TM seemed perhaps a little shy to suggest going to the show because it has been playing for a while and thought I might have seen it already.  He was right, I saw the show early last year when it first opened in Melbourne but I was very keen to see it again and I am so happy he made the suggestion. I suppose, Frankie Valli first appeared on my (oh my gosh i’m a fan –OMGIAF) radar when he had a few hits in the movie soundtrack “Grease”, I LOVE that movie –I must have seen it about 10,000 times!

There were a combination of factors why I wanted to see this show again, the main purpose of my trip to Melbourne was to meet some (working) ladies that I had come to know online.  The ladies had organised a luncheon get together and I was so very excited to meet them, really great people — all of them.  Unfortunately it must have been the hottest day in Victoria ever and the location for lunch was way, way, across town.  Factor in flights, hotel check-ins and taxis including trying to find a taxi back to the Melbourne CBD, well seeing the Jersey Boys show kind of got a bit buried under conflicting priorities, I’m sorry to say.

As TM had arranged the tickets to the show, we decided that it would be a good idea if I upgrade our digs to an executive suite with club floor access so we would both feel all the benefits of being pampered and indulged.  We arranged to meet a little earlier than normal so we could have showers and change before heading off to the Theatre Royal.  TM had arranged great seats and we beat all the mad crowds in which was great, he did a terrific job of navigating us to the venue only a short walk from where we were staying.  I’m glad he did as I’ve come to recognize, sadly that my navigational abilities are as good as my singing *jawdrop *sigh.

The actual Jersey Boys set is this caged, grid metal affair with a urban backdrop, it seemed to be a pretty good visual representation of a struggling New Jersey working class lifestyle wanting to breakout into something better.

We were guided through an introduction to the characters, their strengths and weaknesses and the formation of the band the Four Seasons. The great thing about this musical is the storyline is as strong as the songs.  The string of hits is impressive, one after another like ‘Sherry’, ‘Walk Like a Man’, ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’, ‘Ragdoll’, ‘Who Loves You’, ‘Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye)’, ‘Let’s Hang On’, ‘Can’t Take My eyes Off You’, ‘My Eyes Adored You’ etc, etc. TM and I agreed the show, acting and songs delivery were really tight, probably as a result of delivering to a different audience night after night.   I do think this was a better show than the one I saw in the early season in Melbourne.  A nice touch at the end of the show the actors and singers fall away and only the band is left.  It’s a really, really great band, I liked the horn section best. Ha!

TM and I  wrapped up a terrific evening with dinner at a Spanish restaurant in Liverpool St, with TM in great spirits because his Rugby League team Manly Warringah had won the Grand Final and we celebrated with several courses of wonderful dessert in our swanky hotel room.

Oh what a night!

Ah!  it’s Spring and it’s an awesome time to get jiggy jiggy with it.

I am delighted to announce

I am visiting the beautiful city of

Perth

27th October – 1 November.

Booking is easy, just drop me a line at karenofsydney@gmail.com

Last Saturday night in Sydney, we celebrated the 33rd annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. If you’ve never been, it is an enormous event, it has a fair day,  a dance and several other events. The centre piece of the Mardi Gras is the parade. I am going to talk about the parade, comprised of around 135 floats which celebrate all the diversity available in the Gay and Lesbian community. Many people visit from overseas to be here.  It brings millions of dollars into the Sydney economy. The Mardi Gras had humble beginnings as a march in 1978.

My interest in Mardi Gras goes back many, many years. In my first job in the public service, I met a wonderful man “Paul”. There were a few differences between us I was a base grade clerical staff and he was the Officer In Charge. I was a teenager and he was in his early forties, I am straight and he was gay. Perhaps that is where our differences stopped. He lived in Dulwich Hill then and I live in Dulwich Hill now. It was the late eighties and we dressed outrageously and were fabulous, we knew it so we got along famously. We liked all the same music and went to the same clubs. We were work colleagues who became personal friends. So it was heartbreaking when Paul was diagnosed with HIV + that became AIDS back in the late eighties. Not so much was known about it then.  As he was a tall good looking gay Alpha Male and a excellent public speaker with fairly high level job he did a bit of work talking about it on TV and media at the time. He was trialled on drugs like AZT but he didn’t know if he was getting the real drug or a placebo, It must have been a mind fuck. After he became to sick to work, I visited at him at home. I saw how his body visibally decombusted from the inside out. It was heartbreaking to see, pretty much physically looked like the Tom Hanks character in Philedephia. I had a weird feeling, the day Paul died I rang his phone but no one answered. Pauls’ wake was at the Mardi Gras work shop in 1990, celebrated by a group of his personal friends, he must have loved that. He gave me the poster you see in the picture, he is the guy in the Orange Overalls.  Wow, that was what the Mardi Gras publicity looked like thirty years ago!

I always think of Paul at Mardi Gras. For a long time, I attended the Mardi Gras standing on a milk crate in Oxford St like everyone else. A few years ago I figured I could give something back to people like Paul who live with an illness but also the negative effects of discrimination, stigma and isolation.

The Bobby Goldsmith Foundation is a charitable organisation that helps to support people living with HIV +.  It’s main fundraising event is the Glamorama area at the Mardi Gras.  There are three areas at Glamorama, theres the Glamorama Stands, theres chairs down the front and there’s the Glamour Bar.  I like the Glamour Bar best. I’ve been going for three years now, it’s full of warm wonderful people that are nice to you and you can have a drink and nibbles, there’s a DJ or entertainment and there’s clean toilets.  This year, once again the MC was the amazing and totally FABULOUS Vanessa Wagner.

Possessing a biting sense of humour and a sharp wit as well as being able to articulate another level of consciousness are the qualities that Vanessa has above others, as well, of course, as her obvious good looks.

There had been a late cancellation, my friend that was going with me has been sick and couldn’t make it, I absolutely understood the issue  but I had to find another friend to take their place, luckily this was no problem.

My costume was very simple, a pair of Elton John Pink Flamingo glasses I picked up at Castro last year.  This is them.

We prepared for the parade, Vanessa begins the commentary and we are taken through who are the real movers and shakers in the Gay and Lesbian community. As usual Dykes on Bikes lead, followed by the boys on bikes and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on Sedgeways. An amazing spectacle of colour, sound and visual stimulation unfolded, Special shout out to the Whores, ACON and Clover Moore, great food was coming around and the bar was close by.  All too soon the 78ers the orginal crowd that marched bused by.  I thought of Paul once again.

Every couple of years I take up a straight job. Five years ago I worked as a Census Collector. My job involved dropping off and picking up data. I often met gay and lesbian couples asking the question why their relationship was not legally recognised? Well, don’t know, that’s an interesting question for the policy makers isn’t it? The issue of the discrimitive wording on the form and the interest in same sex marriage certainly was reported back to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Say something!

Happy Mardi Gras.

My Baby moves at midnight
Goes right on to the dawn
My woman takes me higher
My woman keeps me warm

You Should Be Dancing, Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack.
Songwriters: Gibb, Maurice;Gibb, Barry;Gibb, Robin; Gibb

I had a feeling this was not going to be an ordinary Saturday night. My overnight project included a stay at a very special hotel suite on the club floor, a lovely meal at Otto’s in Woolloomooloo, drinks at the hotel bar and then an overnight experience back at the penthouse.

I probably should start by saying that my new friend Mr Entertainment Industry Insider is a touch younger than me. He was quite forward about his preference in wanting to taste all the delights that a mare offers (yes that’s me).

To be honest I was quite hesitant and am not known for seeing a younger clientele but after some emailing back and forward, I was swayed by his easy charm and mature nature.

True to his word, we met at his love suite and after some get to know you time and a few drinks the night kicked off to a great start. We headed off to his choice of restaurant and while I hadn’t been to Otto’s before, I knew this particular area hosts some restaurants that specialise in fine dining. Otto’s came with a wonderful reputation and so I was looking forward to a fine time. We easily settled into our seats joining the the well heeled Lower North Shore and Eastern suburbs crowd. I did my usual sticky beak trick of scanning the group for someone famous (this will be no surprise to regular readers of the blog –like some 80% of the population, hell, honest enough to admit I’m shallow).

No expense was spared and Mr E.I.I. was a terrific host.

Otto’s has an extensive Italian menu and awesome wine list so with the combination of food wine (no, no song) and engaging conversation we headed back for what was to be a memorable night.

I have to say my new friend was quite the energetic type but of course, I have some sensational moves of my own.
Lets just say satisfaction was written all over his face the next morning. I’m not sure what happened over the next 24 hours but Mr.E.I.I. and I got together again a couple of days later so I must done something right. Perhaps I pressed the right buttons on the repeat function, what do you think? We had another fun Saturday night the next weekend at a special table at Rockpool and an even better hotel suite, so the whole experience even topped the first one.

I have to thank all the lovely people that were involved in this great project and especially the head of production for putting together quite a storyline and a first rate cast.

You gotta love show business. Ha!

Wow, what a show this was!

As I’m of proud Irish decent (albeit a bit removed as these things go via Liverpool England) I just had to make my way to ANZ stadium the other night to join the many tens of thousands of fans in their excellent entertainment choice.

Now, I was hoping for a nice sit down meal at one of the many restaurants around the Homebush Bay area but to my disappointment, all were booked out. The only option left was to join the hard-core take-away crowd.

So, I joined the enormous queue and muttered three Hail Marys and a Our Father as I awaited my fate to who knows what greasy, artery hardening, grossly wayward offerings were on the menu?

As I made my way through the queue I could see that Dagwood Dogs were the order of the day. Honestly, just the thought of the kind of ingredients that made up these deep-fried yet cold missiles left me wondering what kind of internal damage was being done to the consumer. One can only imagine what Jamie Oliver, the naked chef would have made of it all. Weapons of Mass destruction had nothing on tonight’s dinner! Absolutely Bleurgh!

Anyway, back to the entertainment.

U2 were the main act but I always like to experience the pre show and take in the atmosphere.

Jay-Z the rapper was the special guest and his set was pretty exciting, especially when he did In New York. I enjoyed the later part of this performance more as it became more musical to my ears.

Perhaps I was also feeling less queasy as my digestive system was starting to settle down after the earlier treacherous assault on it via the Dagwood Dog. *cringe*

As the sun went down and lights got brighter the anticipation was growing and everyone was very excited with the thought of seeing Bono and the lads take the stage. I’ve been a big fan for their whole career but have never made it to the show before. So kindly armed with a recommendation from Amy Monroe@Twitter I knew this was going to be a sensational experience. Still in lead up to the show, I played You Tube footage of U2 live at Slane Castle and I did wonder how an international U2 show would compare with that level of Irish tribalism.

The set was just incredible and looked like something out of a Sci Fi movie from the likes of War of the Worlds.

The ground of the ANZ stadium where footy is usually played had been filled in to hold more people. ANZ stadium really was holding a capacity crowd.

The countdown came and went… U2 made their grand entrance with the classic Bowie “Space Oddity”. I guess it was an appropriate mental link to the spaceship theme and that magnificent set.

U2 played all the usual faves and more, so many excellent songs Beautiful Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Mysterious Ways, Pride (In the Name of Love) and Discoteque to name a few.

The crowd on the floor went wild not to mention a very enthusiastic guy a few seats away jumping up and down like Skippy mmm or maybe more like Iggy Pop, who knows?

The encore was so very awesome. Set to the beautiful and haunting “With or Without You” the spire on top of the spaceship now sported a disco ball that projected lights all around the stadium. What an incredible ending, it was such a magnificent sensory overload and provoked such an emotional response.

I can recommend this experience to anyone that likes a great sound awesome set and an atmosphere in an open stadium like no other. I managed to sneak out during Bonos last speech to the fans and hop on to the shuttle bus to the carpark and beat the crowds.

I’m still buzzing and singing their songs to anyone that will hang around long enough to experience my sensational vocal repertoire. Unfortunately I’m a little low on fans at the moment but surely that’ll build up when I get some voice lessons.

Now to plan my exciting camping trip to the Woodford Folk Festival over the Xmas and New Year break.

Merry Christmas to everyone and thanks for reading my blog all year.

I very much enjoy reading other ladies blogs/journals and so this is my contribution to the blogosphere.

I hope you have had as much fun reading my blog as I have putting it together for your pleasure.

Speaking of pleasure hope to see some old friends and make some new ones too in 2011.

Karen x

When you think of Sydney’s Luna Park you tend to think of merry-go-rounds and scary rides but I had the pleasure of seeing one of Australias best home-grown talent last weekend. Mr Communication whisked me away once again, this time to see John Farnham at The Big Top. The evening started off with dinner at a Thairiffic at McMahons Point, which lived up to it’s name, especially with being open on a Public Holiday.

Getting back to Whispering Jack, we arrived in time to see his special guest in country sensation Melinda Schneider. I must confess not to be an enormous country music fan, so I was surprised that I enjoyed her performance so much. While Melinda Schneider mostly performs her own original material, she also does some tremendous covers of Doris Day, she even looks a little like her. Perhaps a trip to Tamworth with a special friend to the music festival could be on the cards…who knows?

Finally the lights darkened and we had the pleasure of a tremedous Aussie talent stepping on to the stage and did he belt out some great numbers - 61 years old and geez what a vocalist! The band (many of whom have performed with JF for years and years) were polished professionals as were the back up singers.

All time great Australian pop songs such as Pressure Down, Age of Reason, Touch of Paradise and You’re the Voice were crowd pleasers.   In the song “You’re The Voice” there was a brief appearance by four kilted fellows playing the bag pipes… nothing like a Scotsman to get you excited I say.

The crowd loved John so much that throughout the night people were running down and shaking his hand, some with panties and bras in hand.  Maybe if I had of been wearing some I could have participated too – but that’s another story.

It was a wonderful evening and the final song was a surprise choice but what an excellent a version of the ACDC hit “It’s a Long way”- boy was that a cracker!

Thanks to Mr C for another terrific evening. I saw Richard Wilkins, and a couple of promoters make an early exit before the mad crush and the lady in the next aisle seemed to be having a wild time as she kept falling over while dancing …whatever she was on made for some unexpected extra sideline entertainment. All that was left to do was fight through the crowd get into the car and head to the Hilton for some rock and rolling of my own.

It’s times like this that you really appreciate the talent that Australia has to offer and how lucky I have been to experience it once more.

I had the opportunity to go to a masquerade (masked) ball last Saturday night. It was a pretty exciting proposition that Mr Useful put to me. This corporate event was held at the historic Sydney Town Hall and would have various live theatre characters as well as a set three course dinner, speeches and entertainment by Sydney’s own “Enormous Horns”. We would then make our way to the Crown Plaza where he had arranged an upgraded suite for our very own live theatre later.

When the invitation was announced that it was to be formal costume I went into perfectionist panic mode.  Ideally I would have liked us to dress up in 17th style costumes with professional costumes makeup and wigs but that would have took some major arrangements on my part. Unfortunatly, I was finding myself attending to a few different commitments and didn’t have the time to make it *my idea* happen.  I sorted out some basic masques and we wore formal costume and as it turns out that was all that was required.

Arriving at the red carpet at the Sydney Town Hall was a glamorous affair. The photographers were decked out in retro blues brothers type gear with big flash cameras.

The inside of the Town Hall itself had been majically transformed from the church like pews that it’s usually set up with into a visual feast.  It had a French circus type vibe with street performers in costumes and on stilts.

The props and the lighting were very imaginative and extremely well done.

We found our table and chatted with some of the guests as our drinks were served.  There was a short presentation from the company thanking the marketing manager who was taking a position at another firm, he certainly did a awesome job putting the event together.  Then the entree arrived, king prawns closely followed by the main, steak or chicken.  More speeches and some fundraising for the the childrens burns unit.  The irony of having to wear a mask through the experience of having a deforming burn highlighted.

There were a couple of glow bars set up at the venue serving a choice of Mojito or Cosmopolitan with donations being contributed to the burns unit. We bought a couple of cocktails at our table to help out.

All to soon it was the end of the evening and the Enormous Horns were playing their amazing and massive organs.   They really are a very professional and slick outfit and do Sydney corporate events proud.

I think I enjoyed the Village People set the most.  It takes a bit of front to come out topless in an Indian outfit Ha! =D  Plus, I’m really looking forward to seeing the original Village People myself in a couple of weeks.

With the conclusion of the ball we made our way back to our five star accomodation and created a little fantasy of our own.

*This blogs’ music choice inspired by my friend werewolf @werewolf’s Lair.

One of my very favourite things to do is go to arthouse cinema, so it was with much pleasure that I had a recent invitation from Mr Movie Buff.  The plan was that we go to dinner, a movie and then share an overnight experience at his hotel (Marriott).   Well, who was I to argue, after all these are three things I really enjoy – dining, viewing and relaxxxing.

One of the most scenic places in Sydney has got to be Circular Quay.  There’s something very magical about the location, being right on the harbour and of course there’s Opera House, so why not take a stroll to the Dendy Movie theatre like we did and partake in a mystery movie.

But before we got to that, a delightful seafood meal was waiting for me. Unfortunatly by this stage the wind had picked but the romantic in me suggested we dine outside overlooking the glorious view anyway Thankfully there was a outdoor heater and Mr MB was so brave. (He must have been freezing but didn’t complain once, well perhaps once- but nicely). I did notice he had to lift his hoodie up to cover his head from the gale force wind chill factor sent directly from Antartica that prevailed upon our romantic evening.

It goes without say, I don’t think my future as a outdoor event organiser was gaining any momentum.

After a delicious but  windy meal and with time still some time left, I directed my fellow diner to the Guylian Café where we had the most delicious pot of hot chocolate made from real chocolate.  If you haven’t ever been, its the kind of place where they have their own specialist pastry chefs and the array of desserts is mindblowing.  It was lucky in one way we had just finished dinner because the spread of deserts that surrounded us would have been extremely tempting under any other circumstances.

The time had come for the main feature (no, not that,  that’s later …) the movie which was called the Ghost Writer and if I don’t say so myself was quite a thriller.  It even starred Ewan McGregor – gawd, he was so good in Moulin Rouge.

Mr Movie Buff wasn’t living up to his name as he dozed off a few times, leaving me somewhat deflated but somehow I don’t think it was entirely my fault.

Well the thriller was over and we strolled back to our 5 star accommodation where I suggested we make an action flick of our own.

It didn’t take much to motivate the movie buff to put his directors hat on and call the shots.

What else is left to say here, but “ it’s a rap”