butt-ugly!

well, it isn't really a debate i find difficult to come to an opinion on. men who wear their pants half down their legs in an effort to flash their expensively branded ass look like docuhe bags who think a fun night out includes watching jersey shore and then maybe going out and robbing a bottle shop. still, i never thought i'd see the day when wearing your pants this way could be an illegal act. and i got to say, i love it!

now, the new york post is complete trash but the article re this news is pretty interesting and hilarious. check it here!

fyi, i just found out what jersey shore is and have never watched it. but, it seemed an appropriate metaphor for stupidity. cheers, kathryn. you teach me things.

a match made on hoth!

my love for star wars knows no bounds and as it turns out, by proxy, the same is true for adidas! this is because, they have released a line of star wars themed shoes and clothes! as someone constantly searching for the perfect pair of white high-tops this find could not have come sooner. also, what is not to love about an advertising campaign involving snoop dog.

these are the shoes that i have in mind. now, it is just a matter of getting my hands on a pair. thank lucas, that my sister currently resides in america. the home of all things ridiculously consumer minded.

check the whole line here and receive an oddly accurate laser display show courtesy of our good pal darth vader's ultimate weapon, the death star. the vid below it also definitely worth a look. oh and spot daft punk, i love them even more now.

all together now!

my world is all askew!

i have just discovered that there is a physie book and feel like i have stumbled into the twilight zone. i really shouldn't be surprised but, to think that our small sport has a book that has actually been published seems a bit, i dunno, weird. now, i'm not about to start critiquing the book because, quite simply, i haven't read it.

still, it was written by a physie girl (danielle walsh) about a physie girl so, that is a good sign. william faulkner suggested, you should always write about what you know, unless of course you are emily dickinson then you have the skill to do whatever you want. anyway, you can get a copy here, if you like physie. from reading the blurb, a very 'up' positive take on our wildly odd sport can be found in this first step into the world children's literacy.

also, i'm not above asking for a free copy in exchange for an actual, well thought out, review. so, free copy please. i'll be nice, i promise. ok fine, i'll be honest.

live a crazy celebrities life.

we all remember the 'choose your own adventure' books from childhood. the ones that, when forced to read, most normal kids picked the shortest story possible. like most wonderful things it has made a resurgence. first poptisms NOW choose your own adventure: mel gibson.

i think this pretty much sells itself but, if not you can go through your own day of the drunk, drug addled, anti-semitic actor who now has a hot young new girlfriend. he is a properly crazy bastard i mean, look at that mugshot. imagine the crazy shit you could get up to in this fun freaky friday online situation!

check it out here!

looking forward to the rapture!

21st of august = judgement day! or in laymans terms, 2010 election day.... yay it's so soon. oh, i do love a good federal election esspecially, when the debates decline into name calling or in this years case a round of barely veiled angry flirting.

and on a related note there is a nice new drinking game going around related to the impending prime minister showdown. the rules are very simple, every time gillard or abbott use the specific phrase, 'moving forward' you do a shot. it really does have a simple eloquence that, the way this election is going, is sure to get you hammered all the way through this month and the next. i predict many drunk days at uni because, we all know that's were the labour party hangs out and liberal party follows hide and pretend they aren't in agreeance with casually racist political policy.

not that i'm bias or anything.... lets get our drink on! ANYONE BUT ABBOTT!

twitter validates my existence!

a few weeks back i posted on my facebook, 'omg john larrouquette is now following me on twitter.... the same day he decided to follow leonard nimoy! omg!' and SHOCK HORROR no one cared! heathens! so, i felt the need to repeat myself with a melodic tune from the master comedian and actor from the hilarious, boston legal.

check it here. cue applause!

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also, obviously quitting twitter didn't take.... gillard began her run world domination and twitter became essential. sue me!

sorry america, i don't think we should be friends.

it has been pointed out to me recently that, in the past, here on my blog, i have done a lot of america(n) bashing. i feel the need to reiterate that i'm always right about these things but still, not entirely the point.

the reason that i have been waving the 'america is screwed up' or the 'some american people are really stupid' flags that always gets be angry is because as an australian, they are our biggest international allies and more importantly, our protector. this is the country that we negotiate with and give stuff to (like free-trade agreements and soldiers for their wars) and in return expect them to do stuff for us.

this is a country that can't even sort out their own problems and we trust them with the most important of things. i don't think it is too must to ask that they try harder. maybe, i'm too idealistic or naive about how the world works and even if i am, i don't think that that is a bad thing. i suppose, i'm worried that we put far too much trust in a nation that ignored their own people when a cyclone struck new orleans. ignored! as in, pretended it didn't happen. the white house's reaction to the incident was putting their fingers in their ears and going, 'la la la la la'. the national guard didn't go and aid the people of the city you know, because they had green day tickets and/or more likely were busy fighting in iraq. another rant for another day. i just have a serious fear that if this country is unable to aid their own citizens then i doubt they will help us out when north korea comes calling with bazookas and surface-to-air missiles.

we should be scared. i know i am. eek! still, this is a country that with a rich and noble history full of men and women who not only knew what the right thing actually was but, fought hard for what they believed in. i hold out hope that they will pull their shit together, then i watch a joan and melissa rivers special and despair!

i've got sunshine, on a cloudy day.

as i was trolling the internet yesterday for something to occupy me.... as you do, i found this! POPTISIMS! we all remember the motivational posters of yore, you know the ones with pictures and stupid phrases underneath that do not in anyway promote motivation but in actual fact, make you feel slightly depressed about the creative spirit of the douche bags that come up with them. anyway, poptisms, have decided to reinvigorate the idea and they are doing it with passion and a clever up-to-date attitude.

they remind me of a funny, romantic, completely lame movie i watched last week, 'music and lyrics'. drew barrymore and hugh grant, the reigning king and queen of the rom-com, have this cool mini conversation about how pop songs really are like poetry for the modern man and woman. they are equally poetic to the great poems of yeats and shakespeare or lord nelson's love letters except, they make you feel more in the first line of lyrics and harmony than could be conveyed in an entire sonnet.

for instance, i dare you not to feel happy when listening to the the song 'my girl' by the temptations. seriously, i dare you!

the point of all this, is that i have always believed that pop music is fairly trivial and unimportant. it isn't and it is. when pop music is done well, and it rarely is, it can make you feel all pretty and happy. nothing wrong with that.

news corp. trying a new scam for cash? no?

edmund burke once said, 'all that it necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.'. fair enough but, what is the result when evil men do something good? this conundrum has sprung from the recent decision, of news corporation head honcho rupert murdoch, to force our hands to our wallets in his latest new untested model for profit. the 'paywall' has, since the start of this month, started charging readers £1 per day for the online news pages of 'the times' and 'the sunday times'.

now, it is a fiercely held belief amongst liberal thinking people, that old rupert is a unscrupulous right-wing evil profit hungry bastard, i think this too, and that his latest scheme for profits is another example of his abject greed. morover that it also, won't work. why are people in the uk going to fork out money for something they have always been able to view, for free, when they can get equal if not better news journalism elsewhere? the answer is they won't. the guardian actually welcomed times readers the day the paywall was enacted.

here is my point, surely the guardian is shooting themselves in the foot. the day they realise that people aren't buying actual tangible newspapers anymore and they need some cash to you know, pay their employees. but also, maybe we should have to pay. rupert murdoch is most definitely evil but, that doesn't necessarily mean everything he does is evil. like most things television, books, movies, music, clothes, food (sex....ha nah just kidding), the things we spend our hard earned money on are treasured more. we enjoy them more due to the fact, we have sacrificed money and feel the need to savour the experience. maybe, because it is actually costing us something. news could be the same.

my other weird pro-rupert point (ok now i'm starting to scare myself), is that print media is a dying art form. yes, i do believe it is art and the publics willingness to go and view day-to-day events in an online environment has seen cut backs that directly affect the quality of the printed form. for example, the sydney morning herald last year was forced to sack all their sub-editors in an effort to cut costs. this has lead to a severe drop in the quality of the paper. typos and/or spelling errors on the front page of the oldest continuously published broadsheet newspaper in australia. disgusting! moreover, after these cut backs the paper has been accused of 'dumbing down' content and becoming far to akin to a tabloid magazine. as opposed to its previous status as a reputable port of call for serious news readers.

the internet is full of crap. lets be honest even my blog, that i love, is full of grammatical miss steps, spelling errors and unsubstantiated claims. we need experienced professional news sites to outweigh the amateur. still, i think we need both. but, if we aren't going to or even just open to the idea of paying for online content then we are to blame when the 4th estate can't afford to operate and there is no one on the front line of news, reporting to us as it's happening.

without real news reporting, who can we trust to tell us the truth? politicians? ha, yea ok.

murdoch's play for the british publics pounds sterling will probably crash and burn. his uk online newspaper sites are going to take a serious hit. not only because they don't want to pay for news content but, also because they are going to dismiss the idea out of hand as sheers profiteering on news corp.'s part then go read something else. this is not to say the idea is a bad one, it isn't, its quite a practical. to be honest, i don't think it's too much to ask for this service to be a paid one. we have got far too used to everything in the internet world being free.....

well kids, nothing worth having is free. maybe, its time we began to accept that in the online world as well.

another example of combo love!

movies and politics.... two loves rolled into one amazing youtube video. this is a recent entry into the q&a competition called 'get enrolled'. the spoof video parodies the two contenders for prime minister in the upcoming australian federal election.

check it. it's giggle worthy.

the cut.

new york magazine's online fashion blog the cut is one that i follow fairly religiously. it's not for just the obvious superficial 'oooh so pretty' reasons, they actually have something to say. the cut heavily critiques fashion lines, questions ethics of the fashion industry, and opens up debate on topics ranging from elle mcpherson eating powdered rhino horns to michelle obama's obvious love for all things metallic to australia's push for more realistic looking plus sized models. still, to date the weirdest thing i have come across on this site is regarding the power of the mullet.

everyone, who owns a mirror and lives in a community that would mock you mercilessly if you sported the dreaded hairstyle understands the 'yuck' factor when you see someone sporting a mullet. business in the front, party in the back, is terribly outdated but more than that has a very unattractive socio-economic connection that can't be ignored.

still, like most things the iranian government has taken the eradication of the ghastly hairstyle way too far. earlier this week, the telegraph (which i don't usually go anywhere near) reported that, "in an attempt to rid the country of 'decadent western cuts', iran's culture ministry has produced a catalogue of haircuts that meet government approval. the list of banned styles includes ponytails, mullets and elaborate spikes. however, quiffs appear to be acceptable as are fashioning one's hair in the style of simon cowell or cultivating a 1980s-style floppy fringe."

and yes, if you are caught sporting one of the banned styles you will be arrested. these new laws have been enacted under the guise of strict islamic law and coincide with iran police who carry out regular morality checks. ok, fine. it's only a mullet it probably should be stopped but come on, where does this stop?

i am very lucky, like all of you, to live in a country that although it is heavily regulated by governing officials, have not (yet) gone to such extremes as to prevent this form of personal expression. the mullet might be hideous but it is just that. a choice.

oh please, i barely lindsay lohaned.

today lindsay lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail for failing to attend alcohol education classes after she missed a court date. her very public struggle with drug and alcohol related problems has sparked something very odd in me. i honestly thought i would be cheering for her decline, we all like it when pretty people fall. famous attractive successful people is like hitting the hilarious trifecta. we enjoy it all the more. still, this weird popular culture fascination with celebrities concerns me on many levels.

my first instinct is to rant. why the hell do these people have so very many issues? vices that we 'normal' non-famous people don't struggle with nearly as often. yes, some of us have the same addictions but this is a relatively small closed community (the entertainment/music/fashion industries) and it is prevalent. OR at least it seems to be. i think, we don't understand their lives and through the media seek to gain some understanding and/or perspective. we think if we had that perspective we might somehow get how these very talented (or not so talented) wealthy people manage to screw up their lives so royally when we think they have everything so much easier than we do. i mean, these people don't ever have to worry about money and.... well, that is really it.

it was then that i began to get it. lindsay might be rich but, she has the same wants and fears that we all have. self worth, the wish to be loved unconditionally, to matter in the world and later, leave a legacy that has helped the future in some way. we all desire these things. i'm not saying money doesn't make this easier, it most definitely does but her wealth does come at a price. fame. she became internationally famous at the age of 11 yrs and if you have ever read or watched anything about her parents it really is no wonder she has the problems she has today.

a legacy of child stars has taught us that going into the entertainment industry at a young age is not a good idea. yet, people still push their children into it. this thirst for fame is uncontrollable for some. i don't get it. lindsay might not have been old enough to choose this life as a child but that is no excuse for her behaviour now. she could walk away from the spot light, get some help, do a natalie portman and go to school. do something else. but she hasn't and she won't. thus, we all won't be surprised to see her, like so many other famous people with issues, die a premature death. this is goulish!

when heath ledger died last year, the media went nuts trying to get us all the information we needed to fully understand what happened. they gave us, the public, what we wanted then we turned around and called them vultures for doing exactly as we asked. now, i'm not about to go into journalistic ethics (and yes, they do have them, sometimes) but, we should take some responsibility for 1. the news we receive, 2. the insidious way it is procured and 3. the down side of this 'cult of celebrity'. audience models for media analysis are very complicated and boring, by the way. still, what media we consume and why are central to all theories.

i can't say i ever expected to see these words typed by me but, i've got to the point where all this celebrity/social decay has to reflect something in me. i enjoy when pretty people fall, this is wrong. i should never find myself cheering for another persons self destruction. but, hey when the person is famous then it's perfectly acceptable. if it were my friend i wouldn't, even if it were a friend of a friend, i wouldn't. just because i don't know lindsay doesn't make it is ok.

then again, i'm not proposting we go out and sponser a celebrity, to get them back on their feet. but seriously, i think it's enough to simply feel sorry for these people and have just the smallest amount of human compassion. because, not matter what their situation everyone deserves that.

---------------------------------------------------

note - the title of this post is a quote from the tv show 'will & grace'. grace almost faints after feeling sick at a wedding.

suicide's easy, what happened to the revolution?

stephen fry - the sydney opera house - 27th of july - 8pm

foals - manning bar - 28th of july - 8pm

the strokes - the hordern pavilion - 29th of july - 7pm

black rebel motor cycle club - the metro - 1st of august - 8pm

....going to be a big week of AWESOME! woop can't wait. now, i got to go practice my thrash dancing.

go to heaven for the climate, hell for the company.

so, on this cold winter morning i decided to re-aquatint myself with the wondrous show that is boston legal. funny thought provoking stuff that often quote the great works and idea of mark twain. i'm quite ashamed to admit that i do not own one book by this influential and prolific american author; anyone who knows my book collection understands how big a deal that is. still, i have, like many high school children, read 'the adventures of tom sawyer' and enjoyed it about as much as any kid does a book they are being forced to read.

still, this post isn't about twain's books per-se but, rather the idea that live behind his works. ideas that americans pride themselves. still, i'm not sure twain's countrymen today are living by his patriotic example and have even stopped listening. history teaches, why aren't these people listening? this is a nation, where one 5th of americans can't locate their own country on a map, a mere 13% of senior students in the state of mississippi can read at an adult level and one 3rd of students in california can't even find the pacific ocean. the pacific ocean! it's right there.

some of his quotes that could help these uneducated young adults to find some thirst for knowledge are:

- 'classic.' a book which people praise and don't read.

- whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's tome to pause and reflect.

- all you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure.

- get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.

- i don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell - you see, i have friends in

both places.

- we have the best government money can buy.

- a man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.

- don't let schooling interfere with your education.

- clothing make the man. naked people have little or no influence on society.

- all generalisations are false, including this one.

- fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. truth isn't.

- honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.

- action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.

- there is no distinctly american criminal class - except congress.

- loyalty to the country always. loyalty to the government when it deserves it.

- better to remain silent and be thought a fool than speak out and remove all doubt.

- familiarity breeds contempt - and children.

- i can live for two months on a good compliment.

- laws control the lesser man... right conduct controls the greater one.

- good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.

- wit is the sudden marriage of ideas which before their union were not perceived to

have any relation.

- such is the human race, often it seems a pity that noah... didn't miss the boat.

- the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

- the lack of money is the root of all evil.

and finally, my personal favourite in today's australian political climate...

- when red-haired people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn.

detag, delete and decorum.

my three rules for preventing future problems for the pictures taken today.

re-blog alert!

the camera never lies, well not when there are so many of them now: thousands of images taken on cameraphone do tell the truth - in all its mundanity. bit of perspective regarding photography and the value/truth of the photo in today's society.

check it out right HERE.

more than just a ship.

been a while since i had a serious squee about anything....been more in a winger mood. ha! but, that is all about to change. have been re re introduced to the wonderful show firefly and its movie prequel of wonder, serenity. the former is believe by most, if not all, internet nerds to be the best television show to be cut off before it had a real chance to fly. cancelled by the fox network, who we all know is known for its very 'high' standards and tv excellence, at the end of its 14 episode first season. scandalous!

a space western by joss whedon, the man that brought children of the 80s and 90s buffy the vampire slayer and her cheap knock-off brother angel, continued doing great work for the network only to have his heart ripped out and eaten by the hungry vampire himself rupert murdoch! not the cool vampire with the sexy leather pants, the really evil republican kind.

anywho, if you like sci-fi AND westerns then get your eyeballs glued to this show and its movie counterpart. it is like star wars but without that pesky 'force' thing. oh and fist fights, robbing trains and a psycho ninja ex-ballerina....what's not to love?

new hair!

'tis very blonde....what do we all think? yay or....yay?

your turn cait! revitalise your blog like you have your hair.

the surprising adventures of sir digby chicken caesar.

as i listened to the two bogans next door have a massive 2am fight this video jumped into my mind.... "what are you a positcuba?" i'm pretty sure he meant 'prosecutor' but problem is they weren't even drunk; at least the characters in this mitchell and webb sketch have that to blame. moreover, they are funny. homlessness is funny. what, i can be whimsical!

check it! ->