Week 3: Fashion and Fuckups
Hi and welcome to my blog! Over the 8 weeks of filming, I wrote about my experiences making the awesome television series, Man Up, including some of the amazing guys I got to talk to about what it means to be an Aussie bloke today. It’s been an incredible ride and I can’t wait to share it with you…
GQ was probably the most fun shoot so far. I got to meet Nick Smith, the editor-in-chief of GQ and spoke to him about how men’s fashion and how it has changed over the years. I had my own photo-shoot dressing up in gender neutral, lumber-sexual, retro-sexual and metro-sexual outfits. Who knew these ‘looks’ even existed! I rather fancied myself in the beard and flanny as the lumber sexual – even though I wouldn’t have done more than 2 hours of hard labour in my life.
Our next shoot was at night at a Lifeline call centre. It was an intense experience and I am totally in awe of the volunteers. I met an amazing guy called Rocket – he won’t finish his calls until he feels the person’s in a better place than when they rang. He says, ‘how about you call me tomorrow, let’s get through another day.’ So simple but potentially life saving.
This young guy Nic got a life-threatening call that night. It’s not until you are there at the coal face that you can feel the weight of many people’s lives. And how inspiring that these amazing people turn up every week anonymously to help. I couldn’t help but think about Angus and whether, if he had phoned Lifeline, things might have been different. His family are now big supporters of Lifeline– I was so inspired myself that I’ve signed up for the volunteer training.
After Lifeline the crew suggested we go to the pub. I should have known they had plans to put me to work! A wonderful young fella named Will Smith-Stubbs of Spur Projects runs Fuck Up Night, where a bunch of people get together at local pubs or bars and tell stories about things that they’ve, well, fucked up. It’s the perfect way to say, ‘hey, look around this room, see how many people are really struggling and made mistakes. It doesn’t matter if you’re not perfect, you can always wake up the next day and start again.’
Next week I’ll be talking to Steve Biddulph, author of Raising Boys, dropping my guard trying out some Noga – naked yoga – and having a long awaited chat with Angus’s wife and daughter. Get ready for more laughs, tears and hugs.
