One Of Terry's Corners Of the Online World

Well, the wedding happened, and it was great. The ceremony was eclectic (as it would be with queen_nephthys and I was the focal points), all but one of the people invited showed up (also, there was one person down with the flu) and the weather held out. We still have a shitload of wine left - which isn't a bad thing. But the best was the fun and love we go from the guests. Terrific stuff. For those of you not there, this clause is a legal requirement in Australian weddings thanks to the John Howard Social Engineering Junta.....

Terry, Sally, I am a civil celebrant authorised by the Commonwealth of Australia to solemnise marriages. Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and binding nature of the relationship into which you are now about to enter. Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.

I read the following paragraph during the ceremony as a retort to that ugly clause.

Lyn, our celebrant, has a legal commitment to state that “Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman”. Sally, myself and Lyn all have a hope that one day that clause will be struck from the wedding vows to enable all our friends, regardless of their sexuality, to have the basic human right to be married before their friends and families. If there is one dark cloud over this ceremony, it’s the legal requirement for that phrase.

Sometimes you have to say the right thing.

It has been pointed out to me that I didn't mention how lovely the bride looked. She did, very much so, and made me proud to be there. The link to her take on the whole carnival and the thanks to people is here. Tomorrow morning we're heading off for nine days on the North Island of New Zealand, which isn't a bad place to be if the fundies are right and the nukes are going to powderise us on the 12th of September.

Glenn Ford who appears in several of my favourite old movies: Gilda, 3:10 to Yuma and Fritz Lang's The Big Heat. Good solid character actors are rare, and while Ford wasn't typecast, he gave roles what they needed and wasn't scared of ambiguity in the characters he played. His Johnny Farrell in Gilda was almost as attracted to George Macready's Ballin Mundson as he was to Gilda, and in 3:10 to Yuma, his murderous cattle rustler Ben Wade was intelligent and charismatic in contrast with the prosaic homesteader played by Van Heflin who was the nominal protagonist. Now's a good time to eschew the new releases at the DVD store and check out a couple of solid, memorable old films.