Prepare yourself - this ain't pretty

And I don't mean Tori Spelling's impression of Sonny & Cher (which is also APPALLING).

This is a music video that Tori Spelling and her husband Dean McDermott made for their reality show NoToriOus, about their magical relationship being "so in love".

Watch and marvel, suffice to say, Tori Spelling cannot sing.

Nor can either of them write music lyrics, to save themselves. Its just.....I can't even describe..... you have to watch it yourself. And then feel like slitting your wrists, I just can't do it for you.

(and see how they're exploiting their baby at the start, and end, and yet it disappears for the rest of the video? And who are they kidding with the guitars? I don't beleive for a second that Tori knows how to play more than the two chords they gave her-see how she struggles with even them?)

Are you my type?

I most definitely have a type. Thankfully M sits squarely in the middle of it, so I feel I can discuss it freely.

As a Married White Female, I don't find myself "checking out" guys very often anymore. Not that I ever really wandered around as a single gal gawking at mens butts and letting out a low whistle everytime I saw something I appreciated. I just find that when it comes to looking at men aesthetically now, I just, sort of....don't....

So its a pleasant surprise when someone does catch my eye, and I can look, appreciate, and move on. As a single gal, I remember categorising men into groups of whether I not I wanted to "go there", friends, and not interested-please move right along.

In a pub, it might mean going over and flirting, perhaps sharing a drink. I still find it remarkable the number of guys that will buy a girl a drink. I barely had to spend any of my own money when I was single! Meaning I could fritter it all away on other ridiculous purchases.

At a party it might have simply been finding someone I was vaguely interested in, that would chat and be entertaining for (part of) the evening.

Celebrities that fit my "type"
(I will disclaimer this that there are other celebrities I find attractive, but aren't in this category)

ERIC BANA

Favourite film to date, Troy.

CLIVE OWEN

No particular favourite film, and he doesn't immediately leap to mind when I think of attractive celebrity men. Fits the type though.

GERARD BUTLER

Favourite film would have to be a toss up between Phantom of The Opera (he played Phantom!) and P.S. I Love You- so sad. Such a tear jerker.

EWAN McGREGOR

Favourite film to date is Moulin Rouge, hands down. I *heart* that movie SO much.

Now I'm going to be the first to say M is not wealthy, English, Irish or Scottish. I use these celebs only in the capacity to demonstrate my "type"

~Using these pictures, how would YOU categorise my type?

Mmm, might go and peruse some other male celeb galleries....for research purposes only of course....

Who's ring is this?

Guess which WOMAN this engagement ring belongs to?

Yes, it really is a woman's hand, and I too was surprised. Her husbands ex-wife has just undertaken court proceedings to establish how much this couple were recently paid for their wedding photos on a remote island. One has to ask how can she possibly think she'll be awarded any money from AFTER their marriage?

To fin out who this is, just drag your mouse below and highlight the section

CHRIS EVERT,
Greg Norman's new wife.

Weird hey. Man Hands

Here are some other celebrity engagement rings, just highlight the text to find out the answer, but have a guess first :)

Looking vastly different in this photo, (healthy?!?) this queen of WAG's sports a beautiful marquise diamond, and her (so far) lasting marriage to THE biggest Soccer star puts the taboo of the cut down the toilet. (This particular cut of diamond reportedly has the highest divorce rate going around). Sadly its been recently reported she's been advised against trying for a little girl for a 4th child as her body would not sustain it.

VICTORIA BECKHAM

(David Beckham)

The craziest of Hollywood marriages, the penultimate in kooky behaviour, stacked shoes, and (suspected) fake pregnancies. This actress used to be her own person, now she's simply married to that weirdo. This couple close friends of above-

KATIE HOLMES/CRUISE

(Tom Cruise)

Come On!

This is the second giant rock her husband had to buy after a public break up of his first engagement to a fellow player. He's tennis royalty, and after recently critizing the press for not leaving them alone, then went and sold the exclusive story rights to the news they're expecting their second child. .....

REBECCA CARTWRIGHT

(Hubby Lleyton Hewitt)

One of the most high profile divorces all started with this ring. This Beatle got more than he bargained for when he handed this over.

She hasn't got a leg to stand on......

HEATHER MILLS

(Paul McCartney)

A 2-for-1, both with recent births, with first baby pics sold to People for Millions of dollars.

Our lady on the left can get a bit Dirrty when she's out on the town while our lady on the right is no longer welcome at the Hilton.

L - CHRISTINA AGUILERA

R- NICOLE RICHIE

She just recently had a baby girl, their first, and he's one of the richest men in the world after the death of his father. Their marriage was a spectacle that included the family yacht and the French Riviera

A former model, she's working this pose-

ERICA BAXTER

(James Packer)

I guess marrying one of Formula One's drivers has to have its perks, and this giant rock must be one of them. Pity they never actually got married, I wonder if she had to give it back, perhaps he gave it to one of the string of women he's been engaged to...

SIMONE ABDELNOUR

(David Coulthard)

A rock and roll legend on his third marriage now, he divorced Rachel Hunter to take up with this model, and sensationally while in the process of divorcing, this model was dumped in favour of Hunter for lingerie brand Ultimo.

PENNY LANCASTER-STWEART

(Rod Stewart)

I don't care how famous she is, she'll always be Gerard Depardieu's daughter in that movie where she wears a G-string (for me)

KATHERINE HEIGL

Well I don't know about you but I can't stop looking at her breasts! And neither could anyone else who watched the Superbowl Half Time show a few years ago....

JANET JACKSON

Personally, I've always thought she was THE most beautiful woman in the world, and obviously Estee Lauder and her fabulously wealthy Indian (?) hubby think so too.

ELIZABETH HURLEY

The royal we love to hate, I LOVE her ring and when I worked in the Jewelery shop I covted a ring just like this one madly. Will she be Queen one day? Who knows....

CAMILLA PARKER-BOWLES

(Prince Charles)

This female pop-group member had her marriage explode after her English football (soccer) star husband was found to be cheating on her. She must have been happy when she got this though, its huge!

CHERYL TWEEDY (COLE)

(Ashley Cole)

Paris Hilton for President?!?!?

This is what happens when you try to use someone like Paris Hilton to slag off your opponent without asking her. Someone pays her bucketloads of money to make fun of you in response.

And ....Here's the original McCain ad...

Celebrity names, before the fame, they were someone else entirely

I always knew there would be celebrities who changed their name. "of course!" we cry! Who's going to be famous with a name like John Smith? Or Sarah Thomas?
No! Get thee a snazzy name like Gisele Bundchen (do not attempt this name if you are not a leggy, gorgeous Brazilian model) or a single name like Rihanna/Madonna/Eminem. So here they are, altogether, for your trivia pleasure.

Celebs who ditched their real name, Understandably, and traded up-

Kirk Douglas ... real name: Issur Danielovitch. His names change has gone onto affect three generations of actors. I wonder if they feel dispossessed at all?
Woody Allen ... real name: Allen Konigsberg
George Michael ... real name: Georgious Panayioukou
Winona Ryder ... real name: Winona Laura Horowitz
Demi Moore ... real name: Demetria Guynes
Elton John ... real name: Reginald Kenneth Dwight
Snoop Dogg ... real name: Cordazer Calvin Broadus
Shania Twain ... real name: Eileen Regina Edwards
Miley Cyrus ... real name: Destiny Hope Cyrus, apparently "Cyrus gained her nickname "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a youngster."
Shakira ... real name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll
Gene Simmons ... real name: Chaim Witz
Mel Brooks ... real name: Melvin Kaminski- I'm not good with recognising the origin of names, but even I can tell this is Jewish...
Elle Macpherson ... real name: Eleanor Nancy Gow

Wtf? What was wrong with your real name?

Daniel Michaeli became Danny DeVito ...

Laura Jean Reese Witherspoon became Reese Witherspoon ... {no With-a-knife}

Thomas Woodward became Tom Jones ... snappier I suppose...

Jay Greenspan became Jason Alexander ... these are entirely interchangeable to me...

Alicia Christian Foster became Jodie Foster ...

Christopher Ashton Kutcher became Ashton Kutcher ... I guess Christopher Kutcher was a bit too alliterative for him? Just think, Demi Moore could have been Demetria Guynes-Kutcher. Bit Eastern bloc hey....

I guess I can see it a bit more with..

Alicia Augello Cook became Alicia Keys ...
Carlos Ray became Chuck Norris ... this makes him sound more suited to a piano bar that serves all night margarita's from girls in lime green spandex.
Tom Mapother IV! became Tom Cruise ... {Does this make Katie Holmes = Kate Mapother [I] ?}
Robert Zimmerman became Bob Dylan ...
David Robert Jones became David Bowie ...if only he'd known he could have cashed in on an association with an Australian Department store....

Ringo Starr was Richard Starkey

Carmen Electra was Tara Leigh Patrick

.... But still, there was nothing really wrong with their names.

Celebs who traded in a so-so "vanilla" name for a pretty cool one

Vin Diesel ...his real name is Mark Vincent
Portia De Rossi ... her real name is Amanda Lee Rogers {Amanda Degeneres?}
Busta Rhymes ... his real name is... Trevor Smith -Ho Hum!
50 Cent ... his real name is Curtis Jackson.... I think you can forgive rappers though, they're expected to have awesome names.
Axl Rose ... real name William Bailey
Boy George ... real name George Alan O'Dowd
Whoopi Goldberg ... real name Caryn Johnson *yawn* I wonder how she came up with Whoopi Goldberg? Reason suggested here, but I don't trust the accuracy...
Jamie Foxx ... real name Eric Bishop- quite nerdy isn't it?
Seems a lot more common with music types than actor types to change your name to something quite cool.
Queen Latifah was Dana Owens
Kid Rock was Bob Ritchie!
Sigourney Weaver, Orginally Susan Weaver, she picked out her unusual new name from a character in the novel, The Great Gatsby.

Ludacris is actually Brian Bridges

and Hmmm...

Angelina Jolie ...whose real name is Angelina Jolie Voight and
Nicole Richie ... whose real name is Nicole Camilla Escovedo
Interestingly while Nicole Richie changed her name to credit her famous father, Angelina Jolie ditched the obvious link to her father Jon Voight, I wonder if she finds it weird being addressed by her middle name as her surname though. My middle name is May, and I would find it very weird to be called Mrs May.

And the famous exceptions. The two big stars who refused to change their names: Arnold Schwarznegger and Raquel Welch.

Other Celebrity name stories~

Oprah is actually a typo. Her parents wanted to use the biblical name Orpah, but the midwife couldn't spell so it became Oprah.

Nicolas Cage started life as Nicholas Coppola, but changed it to disassociate himself with famous film director Uncle Francis Ford Coppola. The name 'Cage' came from the comic book character 'Luke Cage'.

Michael Crawford - The Phantom of the Opera star was once called Michael Dumble-Smith. The unsurprising desire for a name change was concluded after he saw a passing Crawford's buscuit lorry.

I can't help but wonder who comes up with these names? I would agonise about changing my name!

Oh the shame!

While you people are all out there, living your lives like normal people, I am trapped. Trapped by a dark secret that I fear people can smell on me. I am, one of THEM.
One day I was listening to the radio, and I was struck down by this affliction. I was taken unawares, and before I knew it I was bopping and thinking "this song is really good!".
The song ended, the DJ spoke......

I like Miley Cyrus^.

I wish it wasn't so! If I could change, I would! I assure you!

I really really like her "See you Again" song though! I know all the words to the chorus now! I downloaded it so I can listen to it whenever I want! I'm listening right now!~Its so shameful! I just want to hide away from the world until it goes away. If you haven't heard the song, you can listen via You Tube and vote.

poll by twiigs.com

^I don't like Miley Cyrus in general, just this one song. (so far?)

Finger Sandwich?

I heard on the news this morning that Princess Mary and Frederick are attending Wimbeldon today as spectators and will be viewing from "the royal box".
This got me to thinking about what the etiquette between royalty from seperate countries is nowadays. When I think of royalty and the idea of one Crown Prince calling on a Queen of another nation (in this case), I think we have a tendency to think back to Elizabethan or Victorian eras. You suddenly imagine everyone with giant dresses with powdered faces. However we KNOW the Queen is more fond of a Pill-box hat than she is a hoop-skirt, so already my imaginings are way out of sync.
I wonder whether Fredericks "people" have to call the Queen's "people" as a courtesy before they arrive. Is it seen as a hostile act to simply turn up at Buckingham Palace for a visit? AND is it "snubbing" the Queen if they popped over into London for a weekend and didn't come by to say hello?

In a modern sense, do we assume "the royal box" is to mean Mary and Frederick will be sitting with the Queen (if she attends) and Charles & Camilla? Perhaps Mary and Frederick will be lumped at the "kids table" with William, Harry, Kate Middleton and the other girl (whats Harry's gf's name? The slapper one?). They'll return to Denmark with tales of the boys rough-housing in their suits, and the girls whispering behind their hands, pointing at them occassionally so they know they're being talked about.

I wonder how many traditions survive through the ages. I kind of like the idea of "my guy called your guy, and said it was ok if we crashed your box today"

Has Foxtel taken over? Or is it simply spin marketing

I get the feeling my household (ok there's two of us) is part of an ever-shrinking demographic.
Somehow gradually it feels like people who don't have Pay Tv (what Australian's call "cable") are being pushed into the outer, in mainstream media.
Are we really so backward because we don't have it? We're still of the mindset that having Pay tv (hereafter referred to as Foxtel, since its the main provider) is a luxury, not a neccessity. Unlike the impression I get from US programming, Free-to-air isn't that bad in Oz. At least, I should preface that with "during prime time (6pm-10.30pm)". I'm sure daytime and 2am programming is better on Foxtel than free-to-air, but when I lived at home I frequently found we watched Free-to-air, not Foxtel, during prime-time anyway.

I can only assume, with the barrage of advertising for shows, on channels we don't get, that we must be a minority now, rather than a majority.

Some examples recently

• Kristy Hinze (pronounced Hin-z, not Heinz like the beans) promoting the start of Project Runway on Arena (starting July 7) on the radio.

• Pay Tv has its own awards here, much like the Daytime Emmy's in the US I imagine. That's fine and all, except they're also encroaching on The Logies, with Love my Way winning Best series for 2007 (Channel W).
• Then in 2008, both Best Actor and Actress were from Shows on Foxtel channels- Stephen Curry for The King (TV1) and Alison Whyte on Satisfaction, (Showcase). They don't even have a "Subscription" category, they just take over Free-to-air!

But I digress.

So what the cold hard facts of the matter? Are we a minority or a majority? Is Free-to-air dying a slow and painful death?
Well in 2005 :

Free TV exists in 99% of Australian homes, with 67% of Australians owning two or more TVs. Pay TV penetration has remained fairly stable (at around 24%) despite the publicity push that came with the launch of Foxtel’s digital offering in March last year.

This is an interesting look at how the introduction of "digital" Foxtel affected the rate at which households took it up. (And where's the other 1%? People that live in boxes?)

The common misconception is that half of TV’s entire viewing audience is watching pay TV, but that figure only identifies “eyeballs” within pay homes. 75% of homes do not have pay TV.

“I find agency chiefs and clients saying, ‘Well pay TV has 50% of the audience’. No it hasn’t. It’s got 50% of viewing of the households who do switch on to pay TV,” Allen explains.

Aha. So Foxtel are simply spinning their figures to make it look like "everyone" has Pay-Tv. When in reality, only a quarter of homes do, and of that quarter, they watch Free-to-air HALF the time!
That's not a stat to be proud of really, no wonder they're not waving it around.

A more recent stat, as at June 07 (most recent figures from the Australian Film Commission) 2,082,128 households had some form of Pay-tv.

This is a penetration of approximately 26 per cent of all Australian households.

So not much growth in 2006. Who knows what Pay-tv will do in the future however, as in DEC 1995, stats were as such

Foxtel 2,000

Optus 1,000

Austar 0

Australis Media 62,000

=

65,000

One can assume Austar didn't quite exist yet, and another company altogether (since gone bust) had the lions share.

Vastly different to the breakdown even in 2000

703,000

220,000

421,000

-

=

1,344,000

So if in Dec 2000 there were 1,344,000 subscribers, and in June 2007 there were 2,082,128 it stands to reason there will be another 700, 000 subscribers by 2014, give or take population growth, and not applying any other principle to the formula. That's what, 7% I think of the population. Not exactly exploding then is it?

So. We're NOT in the minority because we don't have Foxtel. The way the figures are going in fact, we may never get Foxtel.

So why does it feel like everyone BUT us has Foxtel? Because they're sneaky. Because they WANT us to feel like we're the ones left out. Damn marketing genius.
OR, maybe we're simply in an affluent area. I'm leaning toward the marketing.

Do you have pay tv?
Do you want it if you don't?
If you DO, do you feel its really worth it? From what I can see, we'd be looking at a price per month of AT LEAST $88.80. That's $1065.60 a year. My gym membership costs less than that!

Ella..ella..ella

This is my favourite song at the moment. I had a major jones a while ago for Mika's song, Happy Ending, and now its Rihanna. SO ANNOYING, this song has been released but isn't on her album, which I already own. They're going to Re-Release Good Girl Gone Bad, with this song included as a bonus track. I really hate when record companies do this, and it happens with DVD's also. By releasing the same thing with added features, essentially they're punishing the :suckers: (me) who were stupid enough to buy the first version, which ipso facto, MADE THE ALBUM POPULAR ENOUGH TO RE-RELEASE IN THE FIRST PLACE!
How stupid do they think consumers are! Its frustrates me no end.

Gah! *breathe*

Also, when you watch it, look toward the end, is she wearing a lace leotard/body stocking?

I don't like this clip. Looking for it to post here was the first time I'd seen it, and I'm terribly disappointed in it. She looks mannish for most of it.
I really liked her haircut for Umbrella, but this version I think has overstepped that oh-so-careful line of edgy/manly. And I think she looks too thin, unhealthy, whereas in Umbrella, she has quite the hippy silhouette, and I was rejoicing the return of the curve. *sigh* she has fallen victim to celebrity thinness though.

Another thing I noticed in this video is Rhianna has a tattoo on her neck. I quite like it!
I know another girl who has the Southern Cross tattooed on her neck, not quite in the same place as this one, more under her ear, and larger than this, say thrice the size.
I'm not a fan I must say. I think the Southern Cross is way over-used in Australian culture, I've seen that many tattoos of it.

I still kind of want a tattoo. Friends of ours, the girl wants a tattoo, and she was thinking of having her son's name and birthdate done. But it sets a dangerous precedent doesn't it? All your children deserve real estate on your body somewhere then don't they? And what do you tell them? "Sweetheart Mummy doesn't have your name because she was a giant wuss and it hurt too much after the first one"

I just couldn't decide what to get. My sister recently equated the pain of a brazilian wax to a tattoo. Her argument being, if you can put up with the torture of having your lady garden ripped out piece by piece, surely you can endure a red hot needle jabbing you repeatedly. I just don't know, she hasn't actually had a tattoo so.....

Perhaps LadyLou can shed some light for us?

I remember being in high school and for a period it seemed all my friends were getting tattoos (if she jumped off the Harbour Bridge...). More to the point they were all getting great tattoos. Relevant, suited-them-down-to-the-ground type tattoos that they were unlikely to regret. At the time I was kind of into spiderwebs, I would doodle them often, and they became a (admittedly very small) trademark for me. So I was actively encouraged to get a spiderweb....somewhere.

In retrospect, I'm very glad I didn't because it would be so irrelevant now. The only thing I keep coming back to for an idea is my star sign, Libra, as I know that's never going to change at least.

(here's that Google Image Search. Tattoo image searches certainly are fraught with danger aren't they? Look for the woman with the breasts....)

Oh well. :)
*text colour edited

Best movie of its genre

As compiled by the American Film Institute. (so no foreign films of course)

Courtroom drama

1. To Kill a Mocking Bird

Epic

1. Lawrence of Arabia

Science fiction

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Fantasy

1. The Wizard of Oz

Mystery

1. Vertigo

Sports

1. Raging Bull

Romantic comedies

1. City Lights

Animation

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Gangster

1. The Godfather

Western

1. The Searchers

Easily view the Top 5 for each genre here at News.com.au
Compiled by American Film Institute, their listing here but I will warn you, its a bit click here, then here etc. BUT there is a cool quiz, and you can take it over and over because it doesn't give you the correct answer.
Leave your score below and I'll tell you mine. :)

Million Dollar Wheel of Boredom.

Wheel of Fortune has recommenced on Channel Nine in Australia. After a potted history, and after being on tv for nearly fifty years, you can imagine it would be difficult to shake up the format of the show, without losing the key successes of the show.

Enter Big Cash prizes, new personalities and "young folk". As Michael Idato states "it is one of those peculiarities of television that for many years Wheel did not offer cash prizes."

Now they're making up for lost time by offering (the chance to win) a Million Dollars. I say a chance, because if you "spin it up", you have to win the round, then win the night, for a chance at playing for the Mil.

New hosts. Well obviously this is a no brainer for a show that's been off TV for two+ years. I find Tim Campbell painful to watch however, having none of the natural TV pizazz that Larry Emdur possessed for game shows. Love him or hate him, Larry Emdur could certainly propel a game show. Kelly Landry, in what I can only assume is a clever clause negotiated by her agent;

Landry, unlike her predecessors, is no mere "letter turner"..."she is the co-host and takes a role in the show, introducing the puzzles"

WTF? She says "Phrase" and suddenly she's a co-host?
The new "high tech" letterboard appears to be no more than the letters lighting up at the touch of a button underneath the letter. There was an opportunity for Channel Nine to seriously revamp the format by, I don't know, NOT having a piece of female eye-candy who does essentially nothing but act as a high-priced clothes horse?
Lavinia Nixon was more of a "co-host" on Temptation (Sale of the Century) than Landry is on Wheel. She wishes she could be a tenth of the letter turner Adriana Xenides was.

They're both wooden, and I can't see either of them lasting. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, and its too early, they both need to settle in, but HELLO? The first week of a show like this, which has been promoted through the roof on a struggling network, it needs to have IMPACT and convince viewers to switch from Deal or No Deal, which is currently winning the time slot.

Lastly, "young folk". There is certainly a younger contestant set, as if they're trying to say "We're young! We're in touch! See our young hosts! See our young contestants winning! Please watch!"

Sorry Wheel, I'm sticking with Andrew O'Keefe, who makes you Tim Campbell, look like a cardboard cutout.

From around the celebrity traps

Kissing with eyes open?

Even as celebrities who probably aren't really kissing, and are thinking of nothing more than hoping there's complimentary popcorn, you'd think they're close their eyes.

Yay, I'm a long time fan of Christian Slater, since way back in the day as Will Scarlett in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves *sigh*
Pleased to see he's back in action.

And a small shout out to Mia if she's reading, that finally, Nicole Kidman appears to be showing!

Not to alarm anyone, but....

Is Vera Wang (R) actually a transgender Man?

I always thought she would look like a delicate china doll, like the dresses she designs.
~
The other thing I find odd, the photogallery I was flicking through for these shots, its like they haven't spent enough money on the images and they've gotten a bad batch where none of the celebs look quite right.

No 1- Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen
I call this one, I'm-supporting-my-sister-through-this-difficult-elfin-time-in-her-life.
She's sort of clinging no?
I love the smile on the normal one. Who hasn't had a photo like this where they're propping up their drunk friend at a party when someone tries to take a happy snap, and they're pretending they're not drunk, and you're pretedning they'er not drunk, but everyone can see they are drunk.
Substitute drunk, for nuts!
(Plus, who knew? The weird one is shorter than the more-normal-one.)

No. 2 Dita Von Teese

No. 3 Posh & Becks

No. 4 - Janet Jackson

No. 5 - Diane Kruger
Hmmm, twichy eyes.....slightly pursed lips...slightly, I don't really want to be here, I'd rather be running away from Troy with Orlando Bloom...

No. 6 - Kate Moss & Stella McCartney*
*thanks Re
Is this a shot of Kate Moss (and friend*) bunching Kate Moss' dress up behind her back? Whaaa....???
~

And hilariously, toward the end they've just given up on captioning them, maybe they don't recognise the starlets? (And THIS is why I don't know who this other person is)
And if anyone can enlighten me as to the actual point of the Metropolitan Museum's Fantasy & Fashion Costume Ball, please do, because it seems like every man and his dog was there.

Biggest Losers lovers?

When I saw the headline "Sparks Fly for The Biggest Loser" I naturally assumed it was Michael and Sheridan, who were seen (and promoted) to have "a romantic connection" on the show, including having confronting questions about their relationship posed to them on the show about whether "finding love" had affected their weight loss dreams.
Clearly between the two of them it must have had some effect, because the week it "came out" on the show was Sheridan's last, and then supposedly in heartbreak Michael was out the next week (from memory).
So I was shocked to discover the article was about a supposed romance between Big Garry and Carianne! (one of the twins)
(hey Garry, whats with the Shirt promoting chips?)On a side note, really wanted a woman to win this year, Alison came so close! But in the end it was 19 year old Sam, with a loss of 71kg. Which is a massive effort and good on him.
He'll be beating them off with a stick now!

Tom cruise gets desperate to prove he's a normal guy

This is so highly creepy.



*key weirdness'
- Katie saying :I love you: multiple times when she leaves.
- multiuple mentions of Suri. Suri Suri Suri, :See she's real!:
- Nicole Kidman once lived in that house.
- Oprah referring to :Bella: (Nicole and Tom's adopted daughter) like they're best of friends.

There's more to this but its being yanked off all the video sites. I hope you can still view this part!

Well I thought we were dancing....but no....

The Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance had its finale on Sunday night (27.04). A special episode, 2 hour finale dotted with dance routines and a rendition of Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis.

We watch CSI normally on Sunday night, cutting directly in the middle of the finale. We decided to tape the last hour of Dance, and watch it after CSI. All going to plan until CSI finishes and we go to flip over to Dance.....and discover that we haven't been taping after all.....

*scream*

I tried to be nonchalant, I tried not to let it bother me. What's done is done.

I was spectacularly unsuccessful and have been pouting ever since.

Missed the Leona Lewis song, which I heard people raving about on the radio the next day. Felt like the DJ's knew I'd missed it and were rubbing it in my face.

Rove, after the announcement, raved about the dancing before the announcement.

Missed the "eviction" of one of the girls I wanted to win.

Shit all round really.

I was devastated that Jack won. SO BORING!
The last two American series have been won by carbon copies of Jack, and its always two boys in the last two. Stupid tweeny girls voting. Bah

And did anyone see what the fug Natalie Bassingthwaite was wearing at the after event when she performed on Rove? After considerable effort to bring you this photo in case you missed it-

Some sort of hideous sparkly dress with a white leather wide belt, with buckles at front. Ghastly!?! She looked lovely for the Dance show, a black feathery cocktail dress, quite cute. (you can find that one yourself on the Dance website, or you can see a snippet on the left in the Jack pic)

So, like I said, I just couldn't let this slide.

In my dreams, you looked better than this...

who didn't love Vanessa Amorosi at the 2000 Olympics? She was great. She had a great voice even though she was only 13-14***, and she was managed well I think at the time, better than say, Nikki Webster.
Now?? I'm not such a fan


This is her latest single Perfect, which you may or may not have heard, and the video which you may or may not have seen.
I personally hate it. I didn't like it too much to begin with, and now, having watched it a bunch of times at the gym, I've grown to loathe how she looks in it.
I love desert scenes usually, like Delta's video for "Believe Again". But its not all encompassing, I hate "Outta my Head" by Ashlee Simpson, which has a lot of desert in it. (The tiny top hat? The stupid two looks? The ridiculous song: You tube has the names listed as "outta my head - ay ya ya ya ay". Awesomeness-blegh)

I think V.Am looks alien in this video. The wig and the beginning outfit are awful.
The chainmail LOTR dress at the end is horrid looking on her too. The close ups on her face are doing he no favours either.
*sigh*
Video aside, I think it would make a good wedding song though, being that its about partners beig perfect.

**Under dispute

I love Wikipedia

Every time I read something factual on the internet, I try to remind myself to cross reference it, so I don't end up spouting facts out of my ass with no backup (bad habit of mine).
It doesn't always pan out that way, I have been known to go out half-cocked and be wrong.
Something I find particular trouble with, in this tech-savvy world I'm much more likely to be reading something written overseas, and I don't neccessarily always understand the context in which its written.
Enter-Wikipedia.
Now Wikipedia I think is what teachers always used to refer to (in theory) when I was in High School as "don't use Internet references, they aren't always accurate"
I don't think Wikipedia existed when I was at school, but there was a lot of false and misleading information out in the web, and it was always more secure to go and visit the trusty Library to get your source matieral.
Now, if I was at school, I wouldn't dream of using textbooks for sources (unless I had access to a University Library I guess) because the information printed in books can sometimes be outdated before the ink has even dried on the page.
The internet has changed the face of Information gathering, because it can be so much more trustworthy nowdays.
Now I'm not claiming that Wikipedia is unimpeachable in his accuracy, its greatest strength is its one downfall, in that anyone can edit an entry after registering with Wiki. This has been raked over the coals on more than one occassion after misuse. It can mena though, that through collaborative effort, each article is more accurate than if one person writes the whole thing.

Ten years ago, if you were watching an international sitcom, or reading a book, and the characters shared a joke about something that they don't have in Australia, unless you had a friend native to the country of origin, to ask what the pop culture reference meant, you would stay none the wiser. With Wikipedia, this irritation is no more! If I find something online or in a book, I can go straight to Wikipedia for a relatively simply definition of the thing/service/store.
Being a big reader, it has taken me years to figure out what Wal-Mart, Denny's, Wendy's etc are in America. While it won't change my life, figuring out the context in which stores are mentioned helps shape the narrative.
The real fantastic thing about Wikipedia however, is that it doesn't stop at just places or things, you can figure out pop culture through Wikipedia too.
Eg, Paris Hilton, if you've been living under a rock, and can't figure out what all the fuss is, here are some quotes from her page on Wikipedia
This article is about the American socialite. Hilton has worked as a model, actress, musician, and businesswoman.^[5] According to Forbes Magazine, she earned approximately $2 million in 2003–2004,^[6] $6.5 million in 2004–2005,^[7] and $7 million in 2005–2006.^[8]
A four-year-old homemade sex video of Hilton and then-boyfriend Rick Salomon was leaked on the Internet in 2003, later released as the DVD 1 Night in Paris despite attempted legal action. Paris Hilton has been quoted as saying that she is the "iconic blonde of the decade"' and compared herself to Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe (a claim she denied in the May 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar).^[69] She will reportedly appear in the 2007 Guinness World Records as the world's "Most Overrated Celebrity".^[70] In a poll conducted by the Associated Press and AOL, Hilton was voted the second "Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006", behind Britney Spears.^[71] Critics suggest that Hilton epitomizes the title of famous for being famous;^[72] echoing that sentiment, the Associated Press conducted what they called an experiment in February 2007, trying not to report on Hilton for a whole week.^[73]
So this information would give you an idea of what a passing reference to Paris Hilton might mean.
I recently decided I would try to figure out what Craigslist was. Now, if you just go to the Craigslist website, it is a weird looking list of categories. That doesn't really help me figure out what it's place in American culture is. When I go Wikipedia though, the top line of the article is a quick description or definition of what you're viewing :
Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free classified advertisements (with jobs, internships, housing, personals, for sale/barter/wanted, services, community, gigs, resume, and pets categories) and forums on various topics.
Yay! I can choose to continue reading, or be satisfied I finally know what this thing is.
Another page I found particularly satisfying was when I was trying to verify an email forward about Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. I ended up finding the information in the forward was factual, without having to pay a cent. This is another of Wikipedia's strengths, its available in multiple languages, and is a global effort, so its not just American, it has Australian topics, English topics, ranging from people, to retail stores, to places to things.

This is why I love Wikipedia, you can find anything, anywhere. ( To date there are 2,322,782 articles in English)
I firmly beleive everything on Wikipedia should be taken with a grain of salt, but I'm still a massive fan.
Has anyone else found anything particularly useful or obscure on Wikipedia?