Where did it all go wrong?

After much dedicated and time-consuming blogging for two years I got bored with Great Blue World.

What really wore me out, I think, was the stories that we don't ever seem to make any progress on: religious intolerance, homophobia, the major yawn that is gay 'marriage', the continuing tide of the HIV epidemic... anyway, I got bored and I didn't any longer seem to have the time. It's not like I no longer care - it just no longer seemed to matter that I was recording it. Yep, gay apathy caught up with me. Life moves on.

So, have I given up blogging altogether?

No. I still maintain three other blogs on a regular basis - one of them new. So if you miss me, I'm still out there... blogging away.

Thanks,

Peter Rivendell

Cubland

Facial hair preferred but not essential. A shameless exploration of my fascination with attractive men in the arts, sport and media.

Gay For Today

Gay For Today celebrates and illustrates the incredible variety, contribution and existence of gay men throughout our culture and recent history.

Methods of Dance

Confessions and observations of a fortysomething gay man who likes ballet, dance and physical theatre. Go figure.

Tate Modern revamps expansion plans

Tate Modern has revised plans for its £215m extension - abandoning its original idea of a glass ziggurat.

The series of glass-covered cubes proposed for the world-famous gallery have been replaced with a pyramid-like structure clad in perforated brick.

The extension will rise from oil tanks in the former power station in central London. The tanks themselves will be used as spaces for art.

The new building is due to be completed in 2012.

It will be 65m (213ft) high and comprise of 11 levels.

The tanks will lead directly into the Turbine Hall and the interconnecting spaces will become the "foundation" of the new Tate Modern.

They will be used to show installations, displays, performances and film

Two new public spaces will be created - gardens and a southern square for commissions and performances.

The project is being drawn up by Herzog and de Meuron, the Swiss architects who transformed the former Bankside power station, which closed in 1981 and lay derelict for more than a decade until work began on creating Tate Modern, which opened in 2000.

To date, Tate has received £50m from the government, £7m from the London Development Agency and £13 million from the private sector towards its extension plans.

The gallery must now get planning permission from Southwark Council, which approved the original idea for the extension.

Gay Sicilian driver not mental

An Italian court has ordered the government to pay 100,000 euros (£79,919) to a man who had to retake his driving test because he was gay.

Danilo Giuffrida, now 26, told doctors he was homosexual during a medical examination for military service.

The information was passed to the defence and transport ministries.

Mr Giuffrida was told to repeat his driving test or have his licence suspended because of his "sexual identity disturbance".

Mr Giuffrida passed his test for the second time but his licence was renewed for just one year rather than the usual 10 years because of his homosexuality.

A court in Catania, Sicily, ordered the ministries to pay damages on the basis that Mr Giuffrida's constitutional rights had been breached and that homosexuality could not be considered a "mental illness".

The judge said the actions of the ministries showed "evident sexual discrimination".

Mr Giuffrida welcomed the sentence as "a step forwards for civil rights."

Lucas splits from partner (not Walliams)

Little Britain star Matt Lucas has split from the partner he "married" in a civil partnership ceremony in 2006.

Lucas and Kevin McGee, who were together for four-and-a-half years, said in a joint statement that their separation was "amicable".

They celebrated their civil partnership with a lavish, pantomime-themed reception with Lucas dressed as Aladdin and McGee as Prince Charming.

Guests included Lucas's comedy partner David Walliams and Sir Elton John.

The statement said: "It is with sadness that Matt and Kevin announce that their relationship has come to an end.

"Their separation is amicable. They ask the press to respect their privacy at this time and to exercise restraint in any reporting of this matter."

Hollywood Great Cyd Charisse dies

Cyd Charisse 1921-2008

RENT performance with original and current cast - 62nd Tony Awards (2008)

I love the musical RENT.

I first saw the UK touring production starring Adam Rickett in Manchester, with very little idea what the show was about, but was enthralled from the first note until the last, spending much of the show fighting back tears.

For some reason the show still provokes the same reaction. I even like the film version. RENT Remixed we don't talk about...

I bought the Broadway cast recording and I probably listening to something or other of RENT pretty much every day. If there is one musical I know well, it is RENT.

So it was good to see the original cast - Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Wilson Jermaine Heredia et al - join the current Broadway cast for a tribute to Jonathan Larson's masterpiece at this year's Tony Awards.

New report claims 86 countries criminalise same-sex acts

The International Lesbian and Gay Association’s 2008 report on state-sponsored homophobia says that being lesbian or gay is risking jail time in 86 countries and death penalty in seven.

The figure normally quoted is 77 countries.

The research deals only with legislation criminalising consensual sexual acts between persons of the same sex in private above the age of consent.

Laws dealing with such acts in public, with under aged people, with force or by any other reason are not included.

In addition to those 86 countries there are six provinces or territorial units which also punish homosexuality with imprisonment, said ILGA.

A 30-year-old world federation, ILGA consists of 670 lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex groups from more than 100 countries.

[Read the full story]

'People do stupid things - that's what spreads HIV'

Western governments are spending mind-boggling sums treating HIV-positive patients in the developing world. But would they save more lives by concentrating on prevention? Decca Aitkenhead meets Elizabeth Pisani, the outspoken expert who says that liberal fears of appearing judgmental are blinding us to the truth about the disease

The Guardian

An interview with a dissenting voice in The Guardian. Controversial? Yes. Truthful? Yes, quite possibly.

Well worth reading... especially if you have any sympathy with the views of outspoken US activist and author Larry Kramer.

Howerd house up for sale - memorabilia included, no!

The former home of comedian Frankie Howerd has gone on sale with thousands of items of memorabilia, including his toupee, available as optional extras.

The four-bedroom, pink cottage in Cross, near Axbridge in Somerset, has been valued at £800,000.

The memorabilia is on offer for an extra £600,000.

As well as pictures of royalty and Hollywood stars, the house contains trinkets, furniture and personal documents owned by Mr Howerd.

The comedian died 16 years ago and his belongings were kept in the house where his friend Chris Byrne and Dennis Heymer, Frankie's former partner and manager, currently live.

Mr Byrne manages the estate and has run a series of open days at the house in aid of charity.

He said more than 20,000 people had visited the house over the years, but it was time to "move on and have a clean break".

He added: "It's a one-off house, with the setting and the grounds.

"But the archives will boggle people's minds. We've got paintings, Frank's X-rays, his school reports and his war papers.

"We've even got a hernia belt and the couch where he died."

Beyond tacky.

Royal blackmail pair jailed

Two men who demanded £50,000 from a Royal Family member in exchange for tapes featuring gay sex claims have been jailed for blackmail.

Ian Strachan and Sean McGuigan were jailed for five years each for attempting to extort money from the unidentified royal.

People get less for killing people...