Dags photo gallery

OK so it's a little self indulgent but hey, what do you expect from The Dags. Apologies for the poor quality of some pics as most were scanned from old photos.

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Who is this blonde dude? In the late 80s I got some tips for my hair and was instantly hooked on the blonde locks - a fad which lasted for a few years. On this occasion I was the Best Man for my mate Russell's wedding in 1992. Since then I've been a Best Man on four different occasions and I still own the tuxedo.		This V outfit was made in the mid 1980s and after 20+ years the black vinyl vest literally disintegrated with age. The annoying thing is that I owned this great Shocktrooper suit but never had a helmet nor rifle to complete the look - something I finally addressed in 2009 when I got a completely new outfit. Believe it or not I wore this costume to a Star Trek convention in 1993 and told everyone as a joke it was from the as yet unreleased Deep Space Nine third episode ... and everyone believe me!		I was always a fan of the classic old English gentleman's clothing (inspired by Dracula in 1931) which I adapted on this occasion for a Phantom of the Opera costume. The signature element of this outfit is the cloak which was made in 1986 by a girlfriend of mine. As of today this cloak still exists and I have even worn it from time to time at parties and events. The walking stick was given to me as a 21st birthday gift as a joke.


In 1993 I got to visit the USA which included a fantastic trip to the Walt Disney Studios. During the trip we got to visit the Disney Archives which had on display the world's first Mickey Mouse watch! During the visit I got to hold an actual Academy Award (for a film I can't remember). As a budding film maker myself, this is probably the closest I'll ever get to one of these - by the way, they're actually quite heavy so no wonder the winners hold onto them so tightly.		Before becoming an IT dude in 1995, I used to be a security officer for Toyota. One of my many postings was at the Styling Building where I stayed for a couple of years and as a result I became quite well known to the staff. At one point I was issued with an Akubra hat as part of my uniform (see a pic of it further down) and some of the staff put together a home made star shaped badge with the slogan "Sheriff of Toyota County" to compliment the look. It was very cute.		One of my key philosophies in life was never to knock back a party. If ever a party invite was handed over or an event was announced I was always there because I knew that one day all of my friends would get older, settle down, have families, mortgages and as a result the party scene would simply dry up. Well that prediction turned out to be 100% true but I'm OK with it because I know that in my hey day I partied to the max!


A Dag isn't a Dag unless he's with some dudes and fortunately I've been blessed to have a heap of great mates in my time. Shown here is The Lenny (aka Lennice) and myself. We've known each other since 1984 and even though we had dropped out of contact for 10 years, today we're top mates ... which is kinda handy as I'm going out with his sister, Lynne. : )		Of all my good mates, the top of the foodchain is me old mate Geoffro. Geoffro and I have been hanging out since 1988 and he knows more about my life than anyone else - in fact what he remembers sometimes astounds even me. Geoffro lives in Ballarat these days so we don't see each other as often, but our strong connection will always be there.		Another good, close mate of mine is MPS. We've only been hanging out since 2004 when we were working on a Star Wars fan film together but have since formed a very strong friendship. One of things I enjoy about MPS is his sense of humour which can be quite evil (in a good way) and geez he knows how to crack me up.


Here's one of those funny moments on my mate Robbie's film shoot of Red (which I eventually made into a short film myself six years later). You'll note that if there is ever an outdoor picture of myself I'll always have sunglasses on - no matter if it's sunny or overcast, I can't get by without my sunnies (aka cools) because I find natural daylight to be too bright for my eyes to handle.		People who know me know I'm a perpetual talker and if I ever have an opportunity to air my opinions on something I will - especially if it's about science fiction. In this photo I hosted four panels at the 2010 world science fiction convention held in Melbourne and boy did I have plenty to say. BTW, I got The Thing T-shirt from a collector in Canada and it's a genuine 1982 issue that was still brand new so I was pretty rapt about that.		One of my absolute favourite hats is my THX cap which I got at Skywalker Ranch in 1993. These days it's looking a bit weather beaten and worn out but it's my cap of choice. In this photo I was working on the feature film Damned by Dawn and was the stand-in for the old lady in the bed. It was the first time on the shoot I got to slack off while watching everyone else work hard to set up the scene.


There's nothing like a crazy moment captured in a photo to remind you how good life can be. I remember this situation where everyone got together for the photo and seeing a shortage of space I just jumped in on the pile. Lotsa fun! From L to R (using nicknames). Ads, Chezzie, Vivsta, The Vile, me, Darryl, Lady J and Sully. As I mentioned earlier, it was important to accept all invitations to parties especially as they've become less and less common as the years have gone by. This is a good example of why they were all worth it.		This was the special occasion of MPS and Clare's engagement party and naturally I brought out the top notch clothing. The Batman shirt I bought in Las Vegas in 1993 and the vest was a Christmas gift back in 1992. As both are irreplaceable I rarely wear either of them, but since MPS is a big Batman fan I just knew this was the best choice for the night - plus I'm the best man for his wedding. What's that? Who's the girl? MPS's sister Suzie.		More group pikkies. This was for a friend's 21st costume birthday party which ended up being a great night. From L to R (once again using nicknames). Spankin', Vivsta, Uncle Darth, MPS, Sully, Me, Clare, Lynne and The Robster. It's funny because when you get into your 40s, 21st birthday parties occur so rarely, though what's ironic in this case is that us oldies made up the vast majority of the attendees.


There have been plenty of times when I've performed in front of a crowd as part of a humourous stage act and I wonder how I get talked into these things. On this occasion it was the Return of the Jedi 30th Anniversary Banquet in 2003 and it was a dance number based on Simply Irresistable where Han Solo sings and dances in front of all these Leias. Although it was really entertaining for the audience I couldn't bare to watch it played back on video. BTW I actually made the Millennium Falcon guitar which turned out better than I expected, though it's since been tossed out.		Yep, another night another stage act. This time it's 1992 and the event is The Addams Family Gathering banquet - which ended up being a top night. Geoffro and I performed a number of live acts in our time and this was one of the more creative ones. We did our rendition of The Monster Mash with Geoffro as the Scientist and myself as Igor. Following this we did the Thirteen Days of Halloween which was like Twelve Days of Christmas but with a sci-fi theme (which I thought was actually pretty good). Truth be known our live acts were really quite dodgy, but we certainly had fun doing them.		One of my all time highlights was appearing on Family Feud in a Star Wars vs Star Trek themed episode back in 2008. What made this event memorable is that we were all good friends and having our Star Wars team win at the end was a huge bonus. The episode turned out so good that it apparently got repeated a number of times, yet what most people don't realise is that we all had to audition for our place in the team, so it wasn't just handed to us. Geez it was a blast of a good time and a stack of fun.


Yep, I'm in stereo as the guy standing next to me is also a Darren, this pic was taken from the roof of our hotel in San Francisco in 1993. What's funny is that I'm wearing a green shirt and that came about because I was invited to a New Years Eve party the year before and the theme was "green". Now I didn't own anything of that colour so I bought the cheapest green shirt I could get my hands on thinking I'd only wear it once, as it turns out I ended up wearing it so often that it eventually faded and fell apart.		Earlier on I was talking about parties, well Geoffro and myself have been to heaps and heaps of them in our time due to our connections to the local sci-fi fan community. What's funny is that during my 20s and 30s parties seemed to happen all the time and now that I'm in my 40s I'm lucky to attend a handful in a year. Fortunately a couple of the parties from the early 1990s were captured on video camera which makes for great historical viewing, even though it's a little sad seeing people who you not only don't see anymore but you don't even know what happened to them.		Here's another pic from a party with Lavinia and Geoffro. If you think I look a little thin then you're right. Back in the late 90s I was a serious gym junkie and remained that way off and on until 2006. I exercised heaps and at one point had a 12% body fat mass. The trouble is that when I lose weight it goes from my face which in turn makes me look sunken and gaunt. I never thought this was an issue until I saw a pic of myself taken in 2004 and I looked terrible, even though in actuality I was quite fit and healthy.


The Lenny and myself on a Sunday morning. He lives in Sydney so we usually only catchup a couple of times a year, though when he's in town he stays with Lynne and myself which is great fun. If you're wondering what I'm wearing it's a Star Trek 40th Anniversary top that actually lists every single TV episode from each live action show, as well as the movies, on the back. In fact you could easily use it as a viewing checklist. I bought it for $30 and I love it - in fact I'm wearing it now as I type this.		Vivsta, Spankin' and myself at the Grand Prix of all places ... and boy was it a hot day! I love Formula One car racing but the only reason why I had company this time around is because the rock concert that night was KISS. Now I admit I wasn't overly keen on attending the concert, being more interested in the race, but I've gotta say it was pretty good. I did hear later that it's the exact same concert in terms of layout and style that they've always performed. Still if the formula works then why change it. A good fun day all 'round.		Uncle Darth and myself. This was taken at one of our Star Wars club meetings (called Skyforce) a few years ago. On average we've had between four to six Skyforce meetings a year since 1994 and I think I only missed five of them in all that time. I was on the committee of this club for 23 years before I finally retired at the end of 2011. If you're wondering about my shirt it says "Werewolf Vodka" with the slogan "you won't remember last night". It was simply worth getting for the image of the wolf.


It might be hard to believe but I'm actually very critical of myself in photos and most pics I see of myself I don't like - in fact the ones you see on this page were the very few I was prepared to show. The exception is this one which I think is one of the better happy snaps of yours truly.		When someone pulls out a camera to take a shot of myself I will invariably throw my arms out, don't ask me why. What's worth noting is that I lost a baby tooth in 2002 and the adult tooth behind it never grew through, so I have a gap in my chops. For this reason I taught myself never smile in photos where my teeth are shown (unless I can hide the gap) as evidenced by the pic to the right of this one.		As a big Star Wars fan I've been extremely fortunate to experience some great events through the Star Wars club that I helped create back in 1988. In the Star Wars universe I am a big fan of the Imperial Empire and Star Destroyers are my all time favourite space ship from any sci-fi genre.


Apologies for the quality of these pics as they are screen grabs from an old VHS video tape. In terms of truly great memories with Geoffro and Russell (who's behind the camera), I'd have to say that this was the best of them all. Russell was making a video for the Doctor Who 30th Anniversary Banquet called Geoff's World, a take off of Wayne's World, and it was the ultimate in pure crazy fun!		This was actually filmed at Geoffro's place in Moorabbin long before he moved to WA and then back again to Ballarat into the waiting arms of Lavinia. As was traditional with fan videos of this type, we would receive a dodgy looking script on the day and just went from there. In fact Geoffro had far more dialogue than I did which is why he's reading the script here, honestly I'm amazed we ever got through it. Ironically I'm not a much of a Doctor Who fan so I didn't get many of the references but that didn't matter as I got to ham it up big time.		The wig I'm wearing was Geoffro's that he used for a Vincent (Beauty and the Beast) costume. I remember Russell saying that I had to wear it otherwise I'd look "too cool" which was a nice compliment LOL. I'm also wearing my patch jacket which was in its earliest incarnation at this point. Believe it or not it wasn't until 2011, more than 15 years after this was filmed, when I finally got a copy of Geoff's World including all the raw footage. "GEOFF'S WORLD, PARTY TIME, EXCELLENT!!!" Mega groovy

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As mentioned earlier, in 1993 I got to visit the USA and naturally we took on some touristy places. Here I am obviously at the Grand Canyon but if you're wondering why I'm crouching down it's because behind me is a sheer cliff. I might look calm and relaxed in this photo but in reality I only stood here for a couple of seconds just long enough to get the pic. As for the GC itself, honestly it's so big your eyes can't deal with the scale. Funnily enough I took some sunset pics with a panorama camera and all of them made the GC look like a painting.		When in the US all the things you remember from TV shows and movies suddenly come to life and for me it was Police cars. Whenever I saw a "cop" car I had to take a pikkie of it as they just reminded me of CHiPS, TJ Hooker and a heap of other references to my childhood. The cars we saw were always on the move, however, when in San Francisco we came across two of them parked behind each other. Talk about a perfect Kodak moment! BTW don't you just love the stonewash jeans, they were my favourites in fact.


When we went to the US I said to the other three guys that we had to drive a convertible as I see them all the time in US TV shows and movies. Sure enough we were able to get one for three days and it was a blast of a good time. You'll note that we have the Aussie flag on the aerial, in fact we ended up going through two of them as they eventually frayed with use - as it turns out I still have one of them in my garage as a momento of the trip. As for driving left hand drive cars, it's a weird experience as you have a tendancy to drift to the right hand side of the lane and when on a road by yourself you forget which side you're meant to be on. With that in mind, we were coming home from Skywalker Ranch and were driving up a hill by ourselves in San Francisco laughing and having a good time when we heard someone call out "you're on the wrong side of the road!" when we thought "are they talking to us?" A whole bunch of headlights came over the hill in our lane. Ooops, lucky I can laugh about it now.		Ahhh ya gotta love these touristy photos. You'll note that I wear this Australia T-shirt in quite a few of the pics. Unlike most foreigners who wear USA shirts when in the US, I did the opposite, ensuring everyone knew where I came from. I also found that when speaking to Americans that I would emphasise my accent. What caused us grief is that our Aussie dollar was like 50 cents to the US one so everything cost us twice as much which was a pain. In fact one of our guys brought a credit card with him and he found he went over his limit without even using it as the AU dollar dropped whilst we were in the US thus putting him over the threshold. This also meant we didn't tip anyone which didn't make us very popular.


The first Dag House ... well flat really, in 1991. This is when I lived by myself for the first time in De Carle St, Brunswick. I originally left home to move in with a girl but that didn't work out so I ended up moving into this 3rd floor, two bedroom flat which was a great way to learn independence and self preservation. As you can see on the right side my Batman collection was starting to take shape at this time too ... and yes that is a coffin in the picture but don't worry it's a fake one (it's a long story). I still have the hat too.		Now here's a classic moment in time. It's either 1989 or 1990 at an Austrek (Star Trek fan club) Christmas party which were absolutely fantastic events. The theme was "Pirates in the Caribbean" and Geoffro and myself entered the costume parade as actual pirate ships that I constructed. We "sailed" onto the stage area, then began firing at each other using our cannon party poppers and I was the ship that sunk. Not only was it a blast to do but we won first prize, what a mega top night.


As you can see from these pics I've had a few costumes in my time. On this particular occasion I was invited to a toga party and I thought what better costume to make than a Batman toga - yep this was during my Batman collecting phase. Fortunately I've been invited to a few toga parties in my time so this outfit definately has repeat value.	Back in the 1980s I made an original design costume called "The Beast of the Imagination". If this looks somewhat complicated it's because I kept refining the design over a number of years by adding and changing bits. This photo was taken on the very last occasion it was worn. Although it was made from cardboard and other assorted oddments it still cost a bit of money to make and most of it was constructed in my bedroom at home.	These days Star Wars costumes are everywhere what with the 501st costume group running around, so this outfit kinda just fits right in. However, this costume was made in 1988 and I still wear it from time to time. Ironically it can't be approved by the 501st because it's technically the wrong colour, but in our costume promoting days it had Lucasfilm Ltd approval which holds a far higher status. I tell you, nothing is more fun than wearing your favourite Star Wars costume to a big event and being paid for it - and it's all completely legit!	At the top of this page is my original V uniform which effectively died of old age, so shown here with Steph is the brand new replacement suit. Also just to prove the Internet does have its benefits, I was able to get the rifle and helmet through an online V forum that I used to be a part of. The annoying thing is that I bought all this gear when the Aussie dollar was only about 70 cents to the US dollar so everything was far more expensive than it should've been - especially the rifle which cost a fortune! Still I was rapt that after 25 years I finally had a complete V shocktrooper costume. The funny part is that I wore it to a big pop culture expo here in Melbourne and none of my friends knew I had this gear, yet some of them realised it was me ... from my jaw line! Can ya believe that!

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Behind every great Dag is a great woman and in my life that person is Lynne. These pics were all taken from our 2009 Winter trip to Tasmania hence the reason for the coats and gloves (believe me they were needed).		Lynne loves her coffee, straight black with no sugar which is totally beyond my comprehension.		Lynne's interests are pretty varied: she enjoys line dancing, jewellery and TV shows like Castle and Bones. She supports the Hawthorn footy club, is a fantastic cook and collects teddy bears, which means this place in Tasmania was heaven for her.


Yep I'm a cat lover and the other love of my life besides Lynne is Lulu. She came to us when she was over three years old and has been a great joy in our lives ever since.		I can never figure out how cats can find these positions comfortable, still I love it when Lulu folds her front paws like that. There's even been occasions when she's laid flat on her back with her legs spread open while facing the ceiling, which just looks cute and weird at the same time.		The great thing about Lulu is that she loves both myself and Lynne equally. If Lynne and I are home in a particular room, sure enough Lulu will come in to join us. As for whether she's allowed to sleep on our bed at night ... absolutely!