Look! Something Shiny!

Vintage Madge - part 2

2008-06-13T23:54:00.003+10:00

It's been a few months since I did my first Vintage Madge post, I figured it was about time I did another.

When we last spoke, I finished with the mid-80s. So now we head to the latter half of the decade.

When she made the True Blue album, she was married to Sean Penn. I always hated the look of the True Blue filmclip, although I quite like the song. I think it was the hair. White just doesn't suit her. But, one of my favourite songs from the album was La Isla Bonita:

Live to Tell always depressed the hell out of me. Love Open Your Heart though:

Not to mention, it was the first time the 10-year-old me ever knew of the idea of peep shows! I still hated her hair in the clip, but because the other colours were muted, it wasn't as glaring.

Papa Don't Preach was another single from the album. Meh.

Then she made the film, Who's That Girl. I loved that movie by the way. Oh, her voice annoyed me, but the outfits were delightful. Loved the tutu outfit, and the one with the red skirt and black vinyl top. And then there was Murray (the cougar).

The next major album she made was Like a Prayer. I remember the freakouts about the filmclip. OMG - Jeebus is black! Madonna's hair is brown! Burning crosses! Stigmata!

But my two favourite singles from the album were Express Yourself and Cherish. Although I must admit a soft spot for Dear Jessie. Love Song (the duet she did with Prince) is on this album, but it wasn't a single. Nor was Spanish Eyes or Til Death Do Us Part. I loved all three of these songs.

One of the things I love about Express Yourself (aside from the song itself) is the clip. If you've seen the fantastic film Metropolis, you'll understand what I mean. Plus, wet semi-naked men isn't such a bad thing either!

And Cherish is just so cheerful, you can't help but smile when you hear it.

Until next time...

The world celebrates

2008-06-05T03:08:00.004+10:00

Yes people. Today is my birthday .. June 4th this side of the world
and I have adopted that very wonderful practice of celebrating all week. One day a year just isn't enough.

I bought myself a cute little travel computer ... ASUS eee PC all internet and wireless ready.
I bought myself some rather nifty hiking/walking shoes and shamefully expensive socks.
I bought myself some easy pack, easy travel, easy wash and wear trousers.
I bought myself a cute peachy-orange wasp catcher...in glass that will hang in my maple tree and catch the light all summer long.
I picked a restaurant for dinner and I will eat myself silly no matter the cost.

....and I don't even care that today the sun is not shining

So today is all about me and I am posting it here just to make Magic happy.

WTF?

2008-06-01T17:19:00.003+10:00

Where the hell is everyone? I demand you post things! FF has an excuse but the rest of you ... shame, shame SHAME!

Movie: Vantage Point

2008-04-09T19:17:00.004+10:00

I saw this the other week but totally forgot about it until I was seeing what was to be released tomorrow.

Don't let my lack of immediate posting make you think this was a crap film. Sure, it wasn't spectacular, but it was pretty decent.

Sadly, what was disappointing was how I managed to pick the "twist" within the first 15 minutes of the film and was hanging out to be proved correct.

Basically, it is about the assassination of the US President and aftermath, told from 6 different perspectives (the final also brings together the ends of the other versions).

The execution of the method, while not entirely effective, was still quite good. You learnt a little more about the assassination and the events surrounding it as you saw it from each point of view.

There's not really much more I can say about it. Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, William Hurt and Forrest Whitaker star. Signorney Weaver has a smaller part as a news producer.

Anyway, not a bad film, but just wait until you can see it on DVD.

For Magic B

2008-04-05T12:41:00.002+10:00

Movie: The Other Boleyn Girl

2008-03-20T16:55:00.000+10:00

I haven't read Phillipa Gregory's novel of the same name and didn't know much of the factual history behind the story except that Henry VIII was fond of chopping people's heads off but I love a good historical romance so this appealed to me.

And it is good! Great in fact!

Reading wiki, the film differs to the book in some respects but it is still a good story. Complicated and a great look at how twisted the intrigues of court life might have been.

It was cast really well, you love to hate the ambitious Anne (Natalie Portman) and your heart goes out to her sister, Mary (Scarlett Johansson). Eric Bana is fabulous as Henry VIII though possibly a little too hot if you take into consideration the typical illustrations of the real Henry VIII. Though the costumes (which I loved!) might account for some of the paunch.

It isn't a true girly movie but it's definitely not my hubby's cup of tea.

Good to see in the cinema but not essential.

3 shishy stars out of 5

Vintage Madge - part 1

2008-03-14T22:52:00.006+10:00

Madonna turns 50 this year. So I thought I'd celebrate with a little Friday night YouTube of her back before the children and move to the UK.

First, we have:

Burning Up

Then, the little-known song Gambler (it's not on any of her actual albums, but the soundtrack to Vision Quest aka Crazy for You)

...which brings us to Crazy For You. You cannot have a Vintage Madge special without this song

And then we have Into The Groove. This featured as part of the film Desperately Seeking Susan. At one point in my life I would have been able to repeat all the dialogue for this film. In fact, I bet after about one or two watches now it would probably all come careening back. It actually wasn't a bad flick, probably 'cause Mags wasn't in it all that much!

These are some of the stand outs from her very early years.

Of course, there is Material Girl, and Like A Virgin, Holiday, Lucky Star, Borderline, but they're all done to death.

And if anyone is wondering where the idea for the Material Girl clip was ripped from - I give you Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend*:

And so ends our first visit down the Madge memory lane. Stay tuned for more...

*pink ones, thanks.

Movies: A cheats way out of coming up with something new

2008-03-12T17:42:00.002+10:00

I wrote this for my other blog and since I've been too lazy to do much over here of late, you get a re-run... sorry :(

recent movies to share....

JUNO

this was a cool film, I liked it even though it wasn't some gripping adventure and it wasn't what I had expected either. I have come to the conclusion that when I read other people's thoughts / reviews of films I mustn't really pay attention. I thought I knew the storyline going in on this but there is a twist, or rather an upset that caught me unawares. Only because it wasn't how I expected things to go, it wasn't overly terrible and in real life I imagine a sad reality for some people.

So if you want plot details, see wiki but I reckon leave it and enjoy this quirky movie with likable characters and a cool soundtrack without any preconceptions.

BUT...

save it for DVD, it's really not necessary to see it in the cinema

3 shishy stars out of 5

RUN FATBOY RUN

I saw the trailer to this and knew I had to see it, purely because of it being a British comedy and it had Simon Pegg & Dylan Moran in it.

Again for the plot see wiki, it's a pretty safe predictable storyline but I like a feel good story.

Not quite as hilarious as I had hoped but there were plenty of laugh out loud moments to keep me happy.

It was interesting to see Hank Azaria in a different sort of role ie the bad guy or shithead as he is often referred to. I hadn't seen him in anything like this before.

Not essential to see this one in the cinema either but still worth seeing once it hits DVD.

Also 3 shishy stars out of 5

PS I didn't like this quite as much as Hot Fuzz

For your consideration

2008-02-25T04:49:00.000+10:00

http://betweenfriendsblog.typepad.com/between_friends_blog/2008/02/the-evolution-o.html

Do you agree

Latest viewing

2008-02-17T04:56:00.003+10:00

Picnic at Hanging Rock I saw it on the DVD shelf at the library and remembering it from a converstion or from the BB I brought it home.

Lovely picture gallery type shots, lovely interiors in the houses used, great scenery and and interesting storyline. Loved the fact that it left so many unanswered questions and now I'm sorry I went and discovered the "last" chapter.

Is this a trend?

2008-02-01T04:15:00.000+10:00

Three movies in three weeks. Not bad for the first month of the year. I probably saw that number at the theatre in all of 2007.
Hopefully something will open tomorrow that appeals to me and I can go again. Hubby is welcome if he wants to tag along.

So:
Enchanted. I went alone to an afternoon matinee and really enjoyed it. I left the theatre with a big grin on my face. I really loved that chipmunk.

Sweeney Todd. I had mixed feelings about this one but decided if I was going to see it it might as well be on the big screen. Again a matinee but this time Paul joined me. We both liked it and I made the right decision to not wait til it came out on DVD. I had heard good and bad so it's truly a movie you have to see to decide for yourself.

Juno. We had to go to an evening show as this one wasn't at the theatre that has weekday matinees. It was busy. Ladies night out it seems although there were a few other men in the audience so P. didn't feel centred out. We laughed. The whole audience laughed. Loved the fast dialog, loved Juno's approach to life, loved it for being an odd ball little movie that sure entertained me. and a bonus it 's cheaper to go to this location as it's not a super cinema

On the book front I'm working my way through John Marsden's Tomorrow Series. He's an Australian, if you didn't know *grin* My October Aussie visitor gifted me with the start of the series and I will be continuing with it now that I'm hooked on the characters and the need to know if it comes out right.

Interview about Zac Power

2008-01-17T16:47:00.000+10:00

This interview took place between She-ra and her 7 year old son the Sith Lord.

She-ra: So tell us a little bit about Zac Power.

Sith Lord: Zac Power is a series of books about a 12 year old boy being a spy. He works for the Government Investigation Bureau (GIB) and he also goes to school.

She-ra: So how many books are there in the series?

Sith Lord: There are 11 books in the series and I (the Sith Lord) have read all of them!

She-ra: So which one is your favourite?

Sith Lord: My favourite book is...I don't have one - they are all my favourite.

She-ra: So why does Zac have a back pack?

Sith Lord: To carry all of his gadgets!

She-ra: Don't they get heavy?

Sith Lord: No.

She-ra: So how does he get to his missions?

Sith Lord: By plane, helicopter, submarine, hot air balloon, train and you know those things that are like hot air balloons but are long (She-ra shrugs - so if anyone knows what they are called, please comment).

She-ra: But he can't drive!

Sith Lord: He doesn't (sarcastically almost saying durh). Someone picks him up and drops him off.

She-ra: So what else do you want to say about Zac Power.

Sith Lord: There is a secret code on the cover of the books that lets you into the restricted part of the web site (zacpower.com).

She-ra: You've been dying for me to put all of the titles in order - can you please read them out now.

Sith Lord:

Poison Island
Deep Waters
Frozen Fear
Mind Games
Night Raid
Tomb of Domb
Lunar Strike
Sudden Drop
Blockbuster
Shockwave
High Risk

She-ra: Apprentice stop hitting your brother.
Apprentice: But he likes it!
Sith Lord: No I don't!!

Sith Lord: Mummy - he has a belt that contains his spy pad turbo deluxe 3000. There (the spy pad) is a lazer, music, games and is a mini computer mixed with a phone and that's how he gets his missions.

She-ra: So is that all you want to say?

Sith Lord: Yeh.

One of the best films ever!

2008-01-10T23:01:00.000+10:00

She-ra's comment in the post below made me think of how my parents were pretty cool about me watching/reading/listening to age-inappropriate material when I was a kid. It helped me be the ingénue that I am!

Anyway, for much of my life, until The Fellowship Of The Ring was released that is, my all-time favourite movie was The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I LOVE THIS FILM. Seriously. Love. It. Anyway, this is a perfect reason to subject you to YouTube clips of it.

While I love the intro song (Science Fiction Double Feature), the clip doesn’t make for the most exciting viewing, so I’ll just say go here if you want to check it out.

Now, when most people think of TRHPS they think of Time Warp. In fact, I think most of us have seen this song enough, so I won’t make you watch it yet again.

All the songs are fabbo, but some are stand outs - such as The Sword of Damocles; Eddie's Teddy; Wild and Untamed Thing; Toucha-Toucha-Touch Me; Rose Tint My World; Don't Dream It, Be It; and I Can Make You A Man.

And then we have Dammit, Janet:

Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?

And, the pièce de résistance:

Sweet Transvestite pops into my head at random moments most weeks.

Knowing Hollyweird's penchant for remaking classics (recent remake of Hairspray, anyone?), I know they'll get around to this one eventually. Which is just wrong. BUT, I have been thinking about this eventuality while trolling about YouTube and I've decided some of the cast should be as follows:

Janet = Anne Hathaway (maybe)
Brad = James Marsden (maybe)
Riff Raff = Richard E Grant
Rocky = Brandon Routh
Columbia = Kristen Chenoweth
Criminologist = Patrick Stewart

As for Dr Frank-N-Furter, I'm not sure. Some possibilities would be Rupert Everett and Robbie Williams. I can't think of any others off-hand. And I've not decided on Magenta, Eddie or Dr Scott. Although I think that Ray Winstone may make a good Dr Scott. Possibly.

The Sith Lord gets a new game

2008-01-10T20:33:00.001+10:00

Thanks to Christmas and a series of chores, the Sith Lord has a new PS2 game.

Having only purchased it this morning (and I only got home from work at 5:45) it has only been played for an hour.

Have any of you ever tried playing playstation games with a 7 year old? It can be a tad frustrating especially as I apparently know all of the tricks to get the game to work so the controller gets thrown (and I do mean thrown) at me to 'fix it' when it gets too hard.

Oh and I just noticed that it is PG and when I mentioned it to the SL he said 'of course it's PG, the Simpons are PG'. Now I think it may be a little violent...oh well...it goes along with all the other inappropriate television* we let him see.

Review from the Sith Lord

It was very very very very good. I liked the lollies (at the start of the game).

Review from She-ra

I think that this is going to be one hard game. It took us AGES (really - about 15 minutes) to work out one little section. Luckily there isn't too much violence - yet.

Wish me luck this weekend.

She-ra

* I think allowing inappropriate tv viewing is hereditary. Tee-la was allowed to watch Bluebird and I saw every episode of MASH when it was first aired.

Mr Happy

2008-01-10T20:28:00.000+10:00

My husband has a new boss.

I don't know his real name but I do know he wears a Mr Happy t-shirt to work...every day.

Just thought I'd tell you.

Mr Magoruim's Magic Emporium

2008-01-06T15:35:00.000+10:00

Saw this with the husband, the Sith Lord and his young apprentice today.

It was definitely one for the kids. Mr Magoruim (Dustin Hoffman) is the keeper of a magical toy store and has decided that, given he is going to die, he is giving the store to Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman). He hires an accountant - referred to in the movie as an Accounmutant then shortened to mutant (very funny) to sort out his affairs. Mutant is played by Jason Bateman, who does this kind of role very well. There is a small child, who I didn't really get, played by Zachary Mills. The sets were fantastic.

The reviews.

The Sith Lord said: It was good. The best part was when the cube was flying.

The apprentice said; The movie was alright but didn't like when the man was leaving. It was a bit sad.

Their parents thought that it was pleasant enough but Natalie Portman should never, ever dance again. Oh, and I think that she had the best orthodontist in the universe.

The rating.

Rent it if you have kids...or are high.

My sister likes books.

2008-01-05T09:42:00.000+10:00

Gentle readers, I accuse my sister of liking books. I submit photographic evidence collected last night.

The book shelf in the dining room.

The three book shelves in the library

The book shelf in the kitchen.

The two in the hall

The one in the spare room

The one next to her bed.

And finally, these boxes of books yet to be unpacked.

I rest my case.

Wild Hogs

2007-12-30T22:08:00.000+10:00

This movie was surprisingly funny. It was actually better than I expected. Maybe my expectations were lower than they should have been, who knows?

It is by no means a fantastic film. As my mum would say "it was just a movie". Mind you, she saw this at the cinema and loved it. But she is the woman who thought The Hot Chick was funny, so you be the judge.

Best bits were (as always) William H Macy and John C McGinley. McGinley's role was very small but hilarious. Macy was a total nerd who was proud of the fact that he got a tattoo - of the Apple logo. I think I related to his klutziness.

If you rent this, make sure you watch the alternate ending. Much better than the one they actually used.

I really can't be bothered going over the plot - all you really need to know is that four middle-aged guys decide to go for one last cross-country ride on their motorbikes.

So, all-in-all it was watchable. Wait until it is weekly (or borrow it from the library). It is an amusing watch, if not fantastic.

WTF???

2007-12-28T16:03:00.001+10:00

Anyone else have weird layout issues with this blog at the moment?

For me, the sidebar is down the bottom.

If it continues (or if anyone else is having the same issues), I'll have a look at the template, but for the moment, I'll leave it - perhaps it will rectify itself!

That is all. Nothing further to see here!

This is for She-ra

2007-12-28T11:29:00.000+10:00

She knows why.

From Overheard in New York:

And If Not, Ask Your Father, If You've Got the Balls

Young boy: Mom, what are those two things?

Mom, reading display: That's your scrotum, right there...

Young boy: What's a scrotum?

Mom: It's your... That thing... Oh, you know what it is!

--Bodies Exhibit

Overheard by: Marty

My work here is done.....................go find the trailer

2007-12-23T21:59:00.000+10:00

Whilst shopping today...

2007-12-09T20:08:00.000+10:00

Tee-la and I were out shopping with the Sith Lord and his young apprentice today when something happened that reminded me to post about this website.

After a not-very-carefully-thought-through purchase of relatively large frozen raspberry 'cokes' for both kids, the apprentice went a little crazy in Woolworths supermarket. In the pet food aisle he tackled the Sith Lord to the floor and made sure he couldn't get up. Tee-la reprimanded them, dragged the apprentice off his brother and pushed them toward me. I said in a voice loud enough for the shoppers around us to hear - ' Thank goodness Tee-la. It's about time you went cross at your boys!'. Sooooo funny. Anyhoo this evening when I was telling my husband about what happened I remembered that I wanted to let you all know about the funniest website around.

Overheard in ... has a few pages where people post funny things they hear co-workers etc say. Here are a couple of recent ones.

10AM Or the Philadelphia Equivalent

Employee #1: I've never worked in an office building where there are so many plants. It's getting to look like a jungle in here.

Employee #2: I don't care about how it looks. I'm just worried that these plants are going to use up all of our oxygen.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Someone's a "Vegetarian"

Arnold Schwarzenegger: [Marijuana] is not a drug. It's a leaf.

GQ Magazine

Really?

Elizabeth Hurley: I've always wanted to be a spy, and frankly, I'm a little surprised that British intelligence has never approached me.

Overheard by: jenner

Can We Get a Tree and Go Crypto?

Girl: Oh, look how pretty they are! Can we pleeease get a Christmas tree? A little one?

Guy: Uh, no.

Girl: Well, why not?

Guy: Because we're Jewish.

--Astor Pl & Lafayette. Overheard by: Couple passing by

The Ultimate Social Experiment - Beauty and the Geek

2007-12-08T20:53:00.000+10:00

From the producing team of Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg ("Punk'd") comes the CW hit reality show "Beauty and the Geek" .

This is according to the show's website http://www.cwtv.com/shows/beauty-and-the-geek-4/about , anyway. Channel 7 obviously aren't so certain about it's hit potential, as they are screening at at 11pm on Thursdays during non-ratings season.

I caught the 1st episode of Season 2 of this show during the week (while I was rewinding my tape of "Jane Eyre", OK!). The "beauties" of the title are the usual vacuous, silicon enhanced women of US reality television. The "geeks" are, not surprisingly, geeks. In this episode we met contestants such as Cher - Beer Spokesmodel, Brittany - Tanning Salon Administrator, Tyson - Rubik's Cube Record Holder and Karl - Dungeonmaster (Dungeons and Dragons, not part of the CIA at Guantanamo Bay). I will let you guess which ones are the beauties and which ones the geeks.

There are challenges each week, one where the beauties are tested on academic subjects and one more pop-culture oriented to challenge the geeks. The beauties and the geeks are paired up and share a bedroom and help each other through the challenges. According to the entry on Wikipedia the contestants actually say that the show has helped them in various ways.

The episode I saw wasn't too bad. Some of the geeks are quite endearing and I suppose the women are OK if you like fake tan and botox.

The really interesting thing about this show is that it has just finished it's 4th season in the US and they are casting a 5th.

So, if you want to see how Tristin - Shot Girl gets along with Chris - Tracks Monkeys With Lasers then watch 7 at 11pm Thursday.

Tee-La, writing during the ad breaks of Survivor China.

Popular - not your average television show

2007-11-30T13:12:00.000+10:00

I love the television show Popular. One of the networks used to play episodes during the day on school holidays, but they haven’t for ages. It was on pay tv for a while – mum used to tape it for me and post the videos so that She-ra and I could get our fix (much like what she did with Dead Like Me and still does with This Old House. But I digress.)

The show itself revolves around a bunch of kids at a high school. But these kids – well, they’re not your 90210 type kids.

As always happens in these shows, you have the popular kids, and the not-so-popular kids. The popular kids have their unofficial leader in Brook McQueen (Leslie Bibb), and her hangers on: (my second favourite character) Nicole Julian aka Satan (Tammy Lynn Michaels), Poppy Fresh (Anel Lopez Gorham) and my favourite character Mary Cherry (Leslie Grossman).

The not-so-popular kids include of Sam McPherson (Carly Pope), Carmen Ferrara (Sara Rue) and Harrison John (Christopher Gorham).

Sam and Brooke are bitter enemies who discover, to their horror that their parents are dating. Eventually, they move in together and the two girls are forced to attempt to put their differences between them. With spectacularly explosive results.

You always get some crossover between the two groups of kids as they go through their lives. Also, as with all shows aimed at teenagers, some messages are written into the stories, but the stories themselves can be so twisted, that it isn’t so obvious at first glance.

To add to the brilliance that is Mary Cherry, her mother’s name is Cherry Cherry and that marvellous creature is played by the fabulous Delta Burke.

The show went for only two seasons and they never tied up the loose ends. But no matter. I adore the show, but have to make do with my tapes of it – it’s available on Region 1 DVD but not yet available on Region 4. So I either have to wait, or get a multi region DVD player so I can enjoy the entire run.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, 4 clips demonstrating the complete insanity that is Mary Cherry.

#1 - Mary Cherry: A callow, greedy, retarded person

#2 - Mary Cherry: Cruel, internal, silent laughter

#3 - Mary Cherry: Imminent celebrity explosion

#4 - Mary Cherry: It's time to rumble

If you’ve not recognised the names, you’ll probably recognise some of the faces. Christopher Gorham (Harrison, or “Joe” as Mary Cherry likes to call him) is now in Ugly Betty; Tammy Lynn Michaels is Melissa Etheridge’s wife; Sara Rue played a young Rosanne on Roseanne and was recently in Less Than Perfect.

Who's that girl?

2007-11-23T17:24:00.001+10:00

Recognise her?

How about now?

Hannah Montana - On stage she's a superstar. But at home she leads a totally normal life!

2007-11-23T17:07:00.000+10:00

The Sith Lord watches Saturday Disney but refuses to watch Hannah Montana with me citing that 'it's complete rubbish Mum'. But still I love it.

Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) might seem like an average girl but she isn't. Miley has a huge secret - she leads a double as the famous pop singer Hannah Montana. All she has to do is don a blonde wig and *gasp* no one recognises her.

It kind of reminds me of I love Lucy mixed with the Brady Bunch mixed with the Partridge Family. Made by the Disney Channel it is clean cut, apple pie, wholesome viewing for all the family (if you can make them sit with you to watch it).

Miley co-stars with her father Billy Ray Cyrus who *shock* plays her father/manager and there are actually some funny jokes made at his expense.

Oh and the very best part - Dolly Parton makes a guest appearance on two episodes as Aunt Dolly. And we all know that the Doll is the best!

The cast - why are they on swings???

Achy Breaky Heart

2007-11-23T17:04:00.001+10:00

Thought I'd post then and now photos of Billy Ray Cyrus - just in case ya'll forgotten what he looks like.

Then

Now

Not sure which look is better really...

Setting the story straight

2007-11-23T16:56:00.000+10:00

Tee-la mentioned in her blog (see below) that she is better looking than I. To put the story straight I have searched the internet to find the celeb who most resembles me.

So here she is...

Serendipity

2007-11-21T19:12:00.000+10:00

Tee-La, newest member of the Shiny family (and She-ra's much suffering sister) has asked me to post the following (issues with her log on. Don't worry, it'll be fixed soon.) Enjoy:

No, not a posting on the excellent Joss Whedon movie, but some serendipitous television viewing ( fortunate disoveries made by chance).

I was accidentally watching Channel 9 tonight. How do you accidentally watch television you ask? Well, I was watching it while I cooked. Of course I have a television in my kitchen, doesn't everybody? But I digress...

So I was accidentally watching Channel 9 and saw two shows that turned out to be much better than expected.

The first show was "20 to 1 - Songs You Can't Get Out of Your Head". Apparently the people at Channel 9 have either never heard the term "earworm" or have decided that their target audience are too stupid or old to make the connection. Well, it is hosted Bert...

I know that the fans of this blog will be desperate to know what were considered the 20 most catchy yet annoying songs. I am not sure who actually chooses the songs etc, but I can tell you that the earliest was "Sadie the Cleaning Lady" from 1967, and there was a lot of 1980s and 1990s music. Some of the 20 were appalling eg Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" and the
Crazy Frog song. Some of the songs were actually quite good like The Proclaimers "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" or Wham's "Wake Me Up Before You Go-go". The best quote of the night was about The Spice Girls "Wannabe". Some actor from Sea Patrol ( can't beat Channel 9 for cross promotion) was saying that he actually likes the lines " If you wanna be my lover you'd better get with my friends" Apparently he would be quite happy with that kind of open relationship.

Now without further ado.... the most annoying song is (drumroll). ACHY BREAKY HEART by Billy Ray Cyrus. If you are not already singing "Don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart" in your head, just think of an over muscled man with horrendous mullet. Now do you remember him? "And if you tell my heart, my achy breaky heart, he might blow up and kill this man" (we can only hope).

The second show that I enjoyed was "Who Killed Harold Holt". I thought it might be a bit dull, but it was full of salacious gossip eg that Harold Holt was the father of his wife Zara's twin boys, which wouldn't have been a problem except that she was married to somebody else at the time. No actual evidence of this, naturally. Or for the assertions that he was taken by a shark, committed suicide, or was a spy who was picked up by a Chinese sub. OR possibly a Russian sub. But it would have been a very short show if only proven incidents were discussed. Very much like an hour long television version of "Womans' Day" hosted by Ray Martin.

And speaking of Ray; Roll Up, Roll Up, he and Laurie (presumably Oakes) will be hosting the Election Night Extravaganza. I am not sure whether they will appear in person, or if we will get the cartoon figures with big bobby heads from the ad. The ads were circus themed, I wonder who the clowns will be.

Tee-La, better looking and much more intelligent sister of She-ra.

Knock knock, nobody home

2007-11-19T10:16:00.000+10:00

I wandered on over to Gemineye's blog to see how his trip countdown was coming along and for some reason couldn't leave a comment.

So here it is:

A week! Just a week and you are off. Have a great time.

and just for good measure... another one

2007-11-17T21:50:00.000+10:00

The Simpson's Movie

I am a Simpsons fan and therefore felt compelled to see this movie regardless of it's quality.

I didn't hold any great expectation of brilliance for this film; ie I didn't think it would be any better than a Simpsons episode on TV and as a result I was not disappointed.

It was really just like watching their regular show only longer. Not that this is a bad thing, I enjoyed it but there was nothing extra special about this as opposed to any other Simpson adventure.

No need to pay the extra to see it in the cinema, Homer even ribs you about that at the start and quite rightly so.

I don't know that this movie will win any new fans but for what it was, it was quite entertaining for me.

If you like The Simpsons then watch it! If not, forget you ever read this post and carry on as per usual.

2.5 shishy stars out of 5

PS you can read Magic Bellybutton's review of The Simpson's Movie here

And again

2007-11-14T21:45:00.000+10:00

This time Shrek the Third and I liked it. For some reason Shrek 2 didn't do much for me, sure it was funny but it didn't strike a chord.

This third installment went down a lot better but I got the feeling that most of the jokes and definitely the soundtrack were aimed at the adults rather than the littlies.

The soundtrack BTW was awesome and if possible the graphics are getting even better.

I like how the film makers have twisted familiar fairy tales to suit their own purposes, all those familiar princesses (Cinderella, Snow White etc etc) could not be any further from the Disney stereotypes that are being so heavily marketed to little girls at the moment.

And you know how they incorporate facial features of the artist doing the voice of the character into the character you see on screen? I kept looking at Arty (distant relative to Fiona) and could not place him though I recognised something about him. Turned out it was the little *bringing sexy back* dweeb himself, Justin Timberlake.

If you enjoy animations and a good laugh check this out on DVD, good but still not worth paying to see in the cinema.

3 shishy stars out of 5

Movie Time Again

2007-11-13T20:40:00.000+10:00

Die Hard 4.0, I can't recall seeing Die Hard 3 to be honest and have not suffered as a consequence but when the opportunity came up to check this out I figured why not?

Bruce looks pretty good for his age (better than I expected) and he was full of the expected one liners which are part and parcel of the Die Hard thing so no disappointment there.

The sidekick was a nerdy smart arse but you couldn't help but like him.

And the bad guy *sigh* was not nearly bad enough. Yes he was wreaking havoc across the land but he did not exude evil. Bit of a fizzer there.

The action scenes and storyline got a bit crazy silly at times but full marks for special effects; explosions, general destruction and the like. I could quite happily overlook the fact that much of it was completely unrealistic, it was all part of the fun.

So I reckon if you want to watch a no thinking required action movie from the comfort of you own home (ie get it on DVD), this is for you.

2.5 shishy stars out of 5

My sister better get her act together...

2007-11-10T20:39:00.000+10:00

My sister was invited to join our little blog AGES ago - I know she has lots to say but for reasons that I (She-ra, Princess of Power) cannot understand, she has not put mouse to internet.

To embarrass her, just a little, the picture above is one of the man she has on her computer wallpaper. Admittedly, this picture shows more of his body but you get the embarrassment factor.

Better join in soon Ya-Ya or more embarrassing secrets will be revealed!

hugs and kisses - She-ra.

Star Wars vs Playschool

2007-11-10T20:26:00.000+10:00

The aptly named Sith Lord (the eldest son) was watching the second Star Wars movie when he called out - 'Hey Mum this guy looks just like Jay from Playschool!'

So I thought I'd post the two Jay's side by side.

She-ra

So you think she deserved to win?

2007-11-09T21:56:00.000+10:00

Wasn't home last night when the SYTYCD finale was on - hence the delay in getting this to you. Bit bummed I missed it 'cause I would have liked to have seen the opening number to Mein Herr. Oh well. It's just TV (shock! horror!)

Anyway, piecing together the performances from YouTube (excluding the Danny/Neil contemporary dance 'cause I hate Mia Michaels), this is the one I liked the most:

But that's not really saying much. The beginning was pretty bland and it didn't pick up until the end. Still wasn't overly fond of it though (even though there were some very nice moves in it.)

Didn't even bother with the solos 'cause they bore me.

So, do I think Sabra should have won? Well, she didn't start impressing me until these last few weeks. If I take my unbiased hat off then yes, out of the final four, she was by far the best.

But I still wish Pasha had won.

Music time!

2007-11-06T16:43:00.000+10:00

Wandering around YouTube at the moment, thought I'd share some goodies.

Taco "Puttin' On The Ritz"

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

Timbuk 3 - "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades"

Scatterbrain - "Don't Call Me Dude"

I laughed

2007-11-06T11:59:00.001+10:00

Celebrity wedding madness

2007-11-04T17:35:00.001+10:00

Apparently, "everyone" loves a wedding. Well, I love it when people I care about are happy, so if by extension that means I love a wedding, then so be it.

What I do find to be an interesting phenomenon is the love of celebrity weddings. Yes, you get some cool ideas, yes you get to see some beautiful gowns etc, but what else does it provide? A chance to mock and jeer those who have the hide to have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more money than us, of course. Because, money does not necessarily buy good taste and celebrities can prove this better than anyone we know. This explains the success of trashy magazines such as NW, OK!, NoIdea and so on. Even those of us who hate such tripe have succumbed now and then - even if we are not proud of the fact.

Last weekend I had the (mis)fortune to view a television show called Most Expensive Celebrity Weddings (I have since discovered that it was based on the list compiled by Forbes.) Normally I wouldn't watch it. I wouldn't even have the tele on at that time of day. But I was talking to TAMS on the phone. She is a lover of trashy tv from way back. And, since she lives in a reality where daylight saving is the norm, she had already seen it. So with (admittedly very little) encouragement from her, I switched it on and was watching it while we were talking. (This tends to be a normal state of affairs with the two of us. I refuse to watch The Logies but a few years ago was coerced into watching it while talking to her on the phone. I ended up watching the red carpet walk. So, so wrong.)

Aaaaaanyway, the higher up the expense ladder we got, the more likely that hideousness was on display. Granted, not all of the weddings were in poor taste, some of them appeared to be quite nice. The expense was stupefying with all of them though.

The number one spot was taken by Liza Minnelli and David Gest. $3.5 million (est). Insane. Particularly since they got divorced the following year. Actually according to the Forbes article, 40% of the people on the list have since divorced. Minnelli and Gest deserve special mention though - for their wedding cake. A 12-tiered affair, it was 7 feet tall and from the pics they showed, not at all attractive. Try as I might, I've not been able to find a picture on the web.

I did, however, find a picture of Christina Aguilera's dress ($2 million, #6). Designed by Christian LaCroix, apparently. Doesn't change the fact that it is impressive, and not in a good way:

I found the pic on this blog devoted to celebrity weddings. I've only looked at the first page of it, but have found the link to the InStyle Weddings site (including 10 Tips from a Celebrity Planner; 25 Great Cakes), and the homepage of Forbes, which is how I found out the original list was compiled by them.

Finally, in my quest to find the pic of the Minnelli-Gest cake, I found this:

But even the Minelli-Gest (sic) affair pales in comparison to the most expensive wedding in recent years. In 2004, the Indian billionaire and steel king Lakshmi Mittal hosted a 5-day mother-of-all-weddings at chateaus and hotspots across Europe for his 23-year old daughter and 1,200 guests. The invitation, encased in silver, ran 20-pages, and the final bill came to around 70 million dollars.

source.

Kids these days

2007-11-03T09:25:00.000+10:00

My kids, like many others, are internet savvy. At 3 (and a half) my youngest can already navigate his way through the approved web sites. He even has his own list of favourites. This is his favourite web site - well at least for today.

The review from the youngest:

Harry and His Buctet Full of Dinohoars (am writing verbatim now) has really good games and I want to play humthin onit - now mummy now. Top writing your blod.

Pasha is given the arse

2007-11-02T21:59:00.000+10:00

Yep, last night was the episode I knew was coming. The second-last episode was the one where he was going to be told to bugger off.

Still, the first dance was very good. Hip hop with Lacey.

Less than impressed with the second - a waltz. I like me a good waltz but this one just didn't, as that screeching banshee Mary would say, "pop". Then again, it could be because I was pissed that he was about to be given the boot.

Damn you, America!

TV: The Upside Down Show

2007-11-01T21:21:00.000+10:00

most Aussie adults would recognise Shane Dundas and David Collins as comedians, The Umbilical Brothers.

But they also do a kids TV show, The Upside Down Show. It's on the ABC weekdays at 8am.

From a parents point of view who has had to put up with the likes of The Wiggles, Hi-5, Barney and Dora on a highly repetitive basis, it is a refreshing change to watch guys like these do kid friendly comedy that adults can get a kick out of as well.

My little one has taken a particular liking to the "Action Fingers; Knuckles and Pointy" but I am rather partial to The Schmuzzies.

Worth taking a look even if you don't have kids (click here for video footage)

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T12:41:00.000+10:00

For all the mothers out there

2007-10-30T03:39:00.000+10:00

Book: Hood by Stephen Lawhead

2007-10-29T21:50:00.000+10:00

I am a bit of a Stephen Lawhead fan so when his latest book, Hood appeared on the shelves I grabbed it. I didn't read it straight away, with so many books on my bookshelf still to be read and me being such a slow reader, it's taken me all year to get to this one.

Hood, as the name suggests relates to his take on the Robin Hood myth and is the first book of the King Raven trilogy.

The link above will give you the blurb on the storyline so I won't bother with that but I will say this; In a lot of ways (well most in fact) this story does not follow the typical well known idea about Robin Hood and his band of merry men. In my view this is a good thing, it's makes it interesting and maybe (without having any knowledge of the true history of the times) more realistic and believable.

This first book deals mainly with setting the scene and introducing the characters, so if you have not read any of Lawhead's other stuff then you might find this a tad on the boring side, simply because the story doesn't go anywhere fast. I admit to feeling like this a few times whilst reading it (and as I said, I'm a fan) but he writes beautifully and by then end the story starts to really get going which suggests the following books will be worth reading.

The next book in the trilogy, Scarlet is also now available (and is on my Christmas wish list!)

DVD: Blades of Glory

2007-10-28T11:43:00.001+10:00

I had high hopes for this movie. Possibly a little too high.

Ferrell can be a little hit and miss for me. I don't deny he is a very funny man, but for every Anchorman, you get a Bewitched. I think he does better in smaller roles. For example, his parts in Starsky and Hutch and Zoolander had me on the floor. The smaller parts really allow him to let loose the complete insanity that makes up his comedic performances.

Heder just generally leaves me cold. I seem to be one of the few people who just couldn't get into Napoleon Dynamite. Although he did amuse me greatly in Just Like Heaven.

But that is not to say that this movie was awful. It was no Talladega Nights. I did enjoy the movie and the creepiness of the Von Waldenberg's was spot on (could have had a bit more of them, and the ending scene at the games you could see coming a mile away, given their performances). I just didn't find it as funny as I'd hoped.

Blades of Glory is the story of Jimmy MacElroy (Heder) and Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell). Ice skating champions. A series of events lead them to be banned from competitive ice skating for life and both are left to try to find alternative life paths.

Until MacElroy's stalker comes to the rescue. They can no longer compete in their division (solo male), but there is nothing to stop them form competing in the pairs. With a small amount of time remaining until nationals, if they want to get back into competition they have only one choice - to head into competition as the first all-male pair.

Of course, the contrast in their personalities makes for some rather amusing moments in their quest for gold.

So overall, it was fine. Won't be buying the DVD though.

"This is my brother. And this is my brother's new girlfriend and she is NOT a whore! "

By popular demand*

2007-10-26T21:53:00.000+10:00

Last night Pasha was partnered up with Sabra. The first dance, a Quickstep was decidedly underwhelming:

But, they more than made up for it with their Broadway style dance:

I must admit, until that last dance, I had found Sabra less than entirely impressive. I liked her last night.

* and by popular demand I mean She-ra commented about my lack of ~~stalking~~ posting of last night's SYTYCD Pasha-fest.

Which Harry Potter Alter Ego Are You?

2007-10-23T21:45:00.000+10:00

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Hermione Granger

You're one intelligent witch, but you have a hard time believing it and require constant reassurance. You are a very supportive friend who would do anything and everything to help her friends out.

Hermione Granger

80%

Severus Snape

70%

Ron Weasley

65%

Draco Malfoy

60%

Ginny Weasley

60%

Remus Lupin

60%

Albus Dumbledore

60%

Sirius Black

55%

Lord Voldemort

55%

Harry Potter

45%

Whilst randomly wandering through blogville...

2007-10-21T13:36:00.001+10:00

One of the things I enjoy about the blogging universe (many thanks to Magic B for letting me know this world existed) is randomly clicking on the links people put on their blogs for other peoples'.

I stumbled onto this one a while ago and love to wander through looking at his photos. His name is Trey Ratcliff and is a professional photographer. He also has a professional web site http://www.treyratcliff.com/

I'll leave you with my current favourite. If I've done it right by clicking on it a bigger picture will appear.

This is New York.

Briefly coming out of the fangirl closet...

2007-10-20T22:09:00.001+10:00

...to let you know that there is an interview with Neil Gaiman on the Rotten Tomatoes website.

You can read the highlights or download the audiofile and listen to the entire thing. Woo hoo!

The Kingdom

2007-10-20T21:01:00.000+10:00

The Kingdom was a good film. I wouldn't rave about it, but it was worth seeing.

Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Gardner, Chris Cooper and Jason Bateman play four FBI agents who head to Riyadh when there is a terrible terrorist attack on a compound housing Western workers. They have five days to determine who, what and how the bombings occurred. They are restricted in their movements by the Saudi police who are holding their own investigation into the incident. Foxx and co eventually win over the Colonel who is assigned to them. They convince Colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Bahom) that they are more capable of investigating the bombing than the Saudi authorities - particularly when it becomes evident that it was Saudi who planned the attack.

The movie obviously has its faults. Rather than looking into the reasons behind the attack, it really only looking at the difficulties encountered by the FBI, and not the motivation behind the Saudi's wanting to keep the whole thing in-house.

The final scenes however, particularly involving conversations in two separate countries, demonstrates that people, no matter their religion or nationality, are really very much alike.

You don't necessarily need to see this one at the cinema, but I would recommend watching it at some point. It really was quite good.

SYTYCD

2007-10-18T19:44:00.000+10:00

Pasha. Lauren. Hip-hop.

This was a nice surprise

2007-10-18T06:50:00.000+10:00

Normally I wouldn't touch a movie staring Will Ferrell. Guess I just don't get his sense of humour. Stranger Than Fiction however caught my eye thanks to the previews with Emma Thompson and Queen Latifah, two woman I find easy to watch.

The story of a man having his life narrated and his attempt to figure it out was a fun premise. Acting was good making this a very watchable movie.

As you wish

2007-10-16T22:20:00.000+10:00

One of my all-time favourite movies is The Princess Bride.

Is there anyone who hasn't seen this movie? Man, I just love it.

For those of you who are *gasp* unfamiliar with it, the story is as follows.

Buttercup falls in love with her farm-boy, Westley. Westley leaves to seek his fortune so that they can marry. Buttercup hears that he has been killed by Dread Pirate Roberts and she ends up engaged to Prince Humperdinck.

Before the wedding, Buttercup is kidnapped by three outlaws - Inigo Montoya (a Spanish fencing master who is out for revenge for his father's murder), a Sicilian genius Vizzini, and a giant named Fezzik.

However, the outlaws are pursued by a mysterious masked man, as well as the Prince's minions.

You'll have to watch it to find out what happens.

Here is the brilliant Mandy Patinkin playing Inigo Montoya:

And here is Peter Cook in his small role (warning - spoilers). Just bwilliant.

One day I'd like to stay here...

2007-10-16T22:17:00.000+10:00

The Library Hotel in New York City (www.libraryhotel.com)

And I'd stay in this room...

And I'd even let my husband come with me! Oh, and whilst we're in the general vicinity I'd like to go here:

because I have an unhealthy obsession with ice cream. B&J has the best web page (www.benjerry.com) and I want to try each and every type - well maybe not the pumpkin cheesecake one!

How my life would change....

2007-10-16T22:06:00.000+10:00

if only I had my own bathroom!

It could look like this

Or this

or even this

I really wouldn't mind...my only proviso is - NO BOYS ALLOWED!

You know you want it

2007-10-12T22:17:00.000+10:00

Pasha and Sarah do jazz

Found his MySpaz.

Why I keep him around

2007-10-12T03:46:00.000+10:00

After all these years he still hasn't lost his curiosity.... .....or his ability to surprise me.
He just happened to be carrying the camera when he visited a bathroom in Niagara Falls and snapped the moose for me to find when I downloaded the photos.

And yes, we had a fantastic day out.

#1 songs

2007-10-09T16:57:00.000+10:00

got an email today recommending a link to find out what the #1 song was on your birthday

http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

Mine is Ringo Starr's You're Sixteen

What's yours?

Movie Time

2007-10-08T22:14:00.000+10:00

I've watched 2 movies these last couple of weeks...

The good news...

Knocked Up
this was funny, not pee your pants funny but pretty funny in places. The story is quite predictable but it's easy to watch and leaves you smiling. Oh! and there is liberal use of the F word but it's used in humorous context and I didn't find it excessive or offensive. Hell if I'd found myself in that same situation I'm sure more than a few expletives would have slipped past my cherubesque lips too hee hee hee!
I loved the bunch of room mates, they were the funniest bit and the pregnant sex scene made me laugh out loud.
Don't stress about seeing it in the cinemas, there's no need. In fact unless your desperate, leave it until it becomes a weekly hire (or in Elizabeth's case, get it out from your local library on a rainy day where there's nothing else to do)

3 shishy stars out of 5

The not so good news...

Evan Almighty
was there ever any doubt in anyone's mind just how cheesy this movie was going to be? this is a 3 cheese pizza with extra cheese on the side.
it wasn't awful but it didn't grab me at all. The funniest bits, I thought, were the dance scenes in the end credits. Now that was funny!
Again predictable with a guaranteed warm fuzzy ending to the point of leaving me a little... Meh
Luckily it is a short film (1 hour 25 min I think) so not too much of my life has been frittered away.
At the end of the day I recommend you find something else to do with your time but if you like *cheese* then this might be to your tastes.

2.5 shishy stars out of 5

Pan's Labyrinth

2007-10-07T14:58:00.001+10:00

I really really wanted to love this movie.

Really.

But I didn't.

Oh the visuals are amazing, the storyline is interesting, but it just didn't grab me and hold my interest.

I totally expected to enjoy it. I do love Guillermo Del Toro's work and even now I can't bring myself to find fault with the movie as such, it just left me feeling meh. On the surface I was sure to enjoy it - fantasy at its best. But, meh.

Maybe I had built it up in my mind to be spectacular. Maybe I should have seen it at the cinema as I originally intended. Maybe it was just that Captain Vidal ruined the entire experience for me. I don't know. I was certainly in the mood for that type of film, so it wasn't that that was affecting me.

I am really quite puzzled by my response.

Shish, on the other hand, enjoyed it.

I appear to be a Pasha obsessive

2007-10-04T20:35:00.000+10:00

This week Pasha was paired up with Sara, where they did West Coast Swing to Rockafeller Skank.

Loved it.

Evidently, so did everyone else.

The show hasn't finished as I post this, but I just have to make special mention of Dominic. Dominic apparently has a massive crush on Cat Deeley. Be nice if he realised that her accent was BRITISH not FRENCH. Moron.

And thank christ there is no Mia Michaels this week.

Two new somethings

2007-10-04T04:07:00.000+10:00

Raspberry Beer. Rather fun. Rather expensive. A fun treat. Always nice to find something new. Across the Universe, a movie worth watching for. See it on the big screen to get the full impact of the visuals. This could be my favourite movie of the year.

http://www.acrosstheuniverse.com/

Books: The Axis Trilogy by Sara Douglass

2007-10-02T23:11:00.000+10:00

I finally finished these books a little over a week ago and have been willing myself ever since to write about them.

I was given this trilogy by a friend of my MIL who was moving interstate and didn't want to take them with her now that she'd finished them. I can never say no to a book and was thrilled to find that this girl has similar reading tastes to my own.

I don't really know what to say other than I loved them. I love fantasy fiction and this was a story that was quite refreshing in its ideas and characters.

You can read what the books are about here so that saves me the trouble of going into it.

All I will say is the story is intricate, well structured and very cleverly written. It kept my interest right the way through and I'm looking forward to reading more of Sara Douglass' work.

As an aside: 2 inconsequential things that stuck with me in this trilogy, please note they are not meant to be criticisms though they will sound like it and they would never have stopped me from reading these books

1. the repetitive use of the word myriad in the books. I guess people have favourite words and this was one of hers, it kind of shit me a little bit after a while, isn't there some alternative way of describing these things??? *myriad* ways I should have thought hehehe

2. new word: ensorcelled, I got the gist of what it meant, pretty obvious really but I'd never come across it before. weird choice of phrasing

Eye catching commercials

2007-10-01T10:31:00.000+10:00

It was for a game. Heavenly Sword rated:teen. What caught my imagination was the deadly redhead cutting down all opposition with a great big shiny blade. Reminded me of Magic B. for some reason. So thanks for inviting me and I will try and stay on your good side.

Curse of the Golden Flower

2007-09-30T21:06:00.001+10:00

I watched this movie last night, first of all I was a bit cranky, only because I failed to read the fine print which advised me that this movie is subtitled, something I have never had a lot of patience for.
However after getting over that I really enjoyed this movie, produced by Zhang Yimou (Yes, I knew you would recognise him straight away) it stars Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li. The story revolves around the Japanese dynasty era where emperors were big. The opulence and extravagance of this era is quite enthralling if not a bit breathtaking I felt and really gives you an insight into the discipline of this society and the structure it functioned under.
The emperor returns after a 3 years excursion to rid himself of his wife and promote his 3rd born son as crown prince. The first born was a result of his first wife who he thinks is dead, however in the 3 years of his absence this son has been in a relationship with his stepmother who is secretly building an army to over run the palace, full of lies, deceit and be trail. So basically it's a power struggle between the emperor and the empress and the three sons, with tragic results. The thing I love about these types of films is that it reminds me of the old ninja movies from the late 80's. There are touches of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha, also a good movie if you have not seen it. Once again this movie is an insight into how another society lived which I have always found interesting if not fascinating.

Bean there done that

2007-09-30T20:34:00.000+10:00

Would you believe there was one more movie that I decided to have a look at during my training excursion. This one was called Mr Bean's Holiday and basically the title of this blog says it all.

I have never been a Mr Bean fan, give me Rowan Actkinson in the Black Adder any day, however being the fair and equitable person I am I decided to give it some of my viewing time. And was I severely punished for such leniency, boring, repetitive and predictable sum this movie up. Most of the time I can usually switch the brain off and laugh at this poor attempt at humour and take it for what it is. Man did this movie sh*t me, save yourself money and don't bother with it. I was actually hoping he would die. Man there are some evil people out there that subject us to this crap!

I got some Stardust in my eye!

2007-09-29T16:49:00.000+10:00

Stardust the film is a little different to that of the original story by Neil Gaiman. But not in a bad way.

The movie is not as dark - presented more as a children's fairytale as opposed to what really was an adult novella.

I really enjoyed it.

It is the story of a young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) who lives in Wall - so named for the wall that separates the village from what appears to just be woods and a field, but is actually Faerie. The wall is guarded by a 90-odd year old sentry who prevents people from trying to pass to the other side.

Tristan is trying to win the heart of Victoria (Sienna Miller), and one night as they are looking up at the sky, they see a falling star. Tristan promises Victoria that she will have this star by her birthday in one week. Thus begins his adventure.

The falling star is Yvaine (Claire Danes). Soon they are being perused by a witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) who wants Yvaine's heart for her and her sisters - so they can be returned to their original beauty.

Meanwhile, the King of Stormhold (the kingdom in which the bulk of the story takes place) has died and his three remaining sons (there were four but one of them - played amusingly by Rupert Everett - has met with an unfortunate "accident") vie for the throne. The last living male heir will become king. This story becomes entwined with that of Tristan, Yvaine and the witches.

There are a couple of cameos (Ricky Gervais, Peter O'Toole) but I think the best character is that of Captain Shakespeare, a pirate played by Robert De Niro. For some reason, the two elderly ladies who sat in front of me and I were the only ones who were laughing when his character was, well, behaving like his character (I really can't tell you more than that - it would spoil it for you). It's narrated by Ian McKellen too, so that's an added bonus!

There's a lot more to the story than what I've outlined here, but you get the general idea from what I've written.

Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Nice fairytale, typical fairytale ending, but quite enjoyable. Not something you would need to see at the cinema, but if you're looking for something to see on tight-arse Tuesday, you wouldn't really go wrong with this one.

There's evil in dem Woods!

2007-09-29T14:24:00.000+10:00

Well here's my first blog and a chance to crap on about some movies that I recently had the mis-fortune of viewing.

I recently had to travel to a neighbouring city to gain a better insight into my job by a trained professional. The day didn't start out well, I missed my plane that was due to leave at 7:10am. When I say missed, I actually got there a few minutes after they closed the flight and being only a small plane luggage had already been loaded. This happened because I mis judged the volume of traffic that would be on the road at 6:15am. This meant that I would have to loiter around the airport for about 2.5 hours before the next flight left. I wasn't real cranky about as it meant I could sit down read a paper and have some brekky, until the idiot in the check in counter looked at me a said you have to be here 1/2 an hour before the flights leaves. Wow what a bundle of information he is, it never ceases to amaze me how many people actually get paid to make stupid comments and state the obvious. I mean here I was thinking that you could run out onto the tarmac being careful to dodge jet engines and props throw your luggage into the back of the plane, run up the stairs to the plane, stick your head in the cock pit and tell the pilot where you want to go and that it's it! Thank goodness for the check in guy, I won't be making that mistake again.

Anyway that evening I finally get to the motel room and discover that I have access to foxtel as part of the room package. The movie line up that I chose over the coming two nights was: Ocean's 13, Fly boys, the Zodiac, Disturbia and The Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd had Matt Damon in it. I like him and his ability to act, even though I had never heard of the movie. I'm not going to go into detail here simply because I usually take movies for what they are, I either like them or dislike them. I don't analyse them unless it's a story that really strikes a cord with me like LOTR, or the world of Narnia or even the matrix for example. I have always taken my opportunity to watch movies as a chance to tune out, relax and forget about everything in life apart from the movie and take it for what it is, a movie. A time to stop, my time.

So these movies that I chose benefited me in a number of ways, I didn't have to pay for them and I won't have to pay for them in the future either. I can give feedback to people like yourself on what I thought, the list goes on. Ocean's 13 can I tell I was looking forward to this as I somewhat enjoyed the last two. It wasn't long before I was doing something else once this movies had started. Boring, uninteresting and I really didn't take much notice as to what they were trying to achieve, needless to say they did achieve it in the end, and I think that was to send some casino mogul broke.

Flyboys, this one was something about world war two a squadron of Americans in France, that's all I got on that one. I found it more interesting looking out the window at the rotting building next door to me.

The Zodiac, this movie does not end it goes on and on and on, actually I think it's still running. Matt Damon appears in it, apparently trying to capture a serial murder who goes by the name of Zodiac and leave zodiac pictures about the place as his signature. Never found out what happened in the end, I was to focused on the knitting that I was doing.

Disturbia, oh you betcha, what a dumb, dumb movie. For all it hype you can watch the movie by reading the blurb on the back of the DVD cover. That blurb could not have hit the nail on the head any more square. It's unfortunate and clever that the producer managed to get 90 minutes of film out of those few sentences.

The Good Sheppard, yes it would have been more interesting if sheep were actually involved in the movie and actually filled the acting positions. What the hell it was about I'm not sure but man was it boring. You know people throw good money at pay TV to watch this crap. I would have pay TV at home but not in it's current format. Until such time as you can buy the channels that you want to watch it will remain disconnected from this house hold.

And last but not least, went to the premier of THE KINGDOM the other night, I really enjoyed this movie. Jennifer Garner and Jamie Foxx played two of four FBI agents sent to Saudi Arabia to bring justice to a cell of terrorists, yes it's one of those America always wins movie. But what I liked about it was how it gave you an insight into how the east view the west, and there resolve to destroy and rid the west from their country. I saw something similar on ABC about an insight into there society and how they go about there life. Always interesting to see what's on the other side of the fence.

Too funny not to post

2007-09-29T11:00:00.000+10:00

Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2007-09-29T09:51:00.000+10:00

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Absorbent and yellow and porous is he. If nautical nonsense be something you wish. Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish.

If you don't know the response to each of these sentences then you haven't experienced the world of the Nickelodeon smash hit Spongebob Squarepants. Spongebob and his pals debuted in 1999 then took a long hiatus in 2003. The show had a big hit in 2005 with a movie version using the imaginative title The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (which grossed something like $85 million in the US) and followed up with a come back series.

The show follows the daft Spongebob on his journey through life. He has a BFF, the even dafter, Patrick Starr (guess what he is), a crotchety neighbour Squidward, tightwad boss Mr Krabs - who weirdly has a whale for a daughter (I try not to think about how a crab and a whale mated), a squirrel (Sandy) who lives in a tree dome - because remember they are under the sea and squirrels can't breate without air rounds out Spongy's friends. Of course in any good cartoon there is a villan and in SB it is Plankton - who is what his name describes.

Check him out in all his spongy glory at www.nick.com/shows then click on the spongebob link.

I can't choose a favourite episode because there are just too many good ones. What I love about SB most is how he makes my boys laugh. Sometimes at night (they share a bedroom) my hubby and I can hear them sing Ohhhhhhhhhhh....who lives in a pineapple under the sea.

She-ra

Movie: Spider Man 3

2007-09-27T23:05:00.000+10:00

Spidey lovers forgive me for what I'm about to say...

It's not that I don't like the whole concept of Spider Man or super heroes in general for that matter, I do.

It's just that..

It's Toby Maguire for a start, he's too much of a gumby (in a bad way) to be a superhero. Kirsten Dunst gives me the irits and I'm sorry but THAT kiss. You know the upside down one? does very little for me.

This is a busy film, lots of substories going on and leaving you wondering where the hell it's all going to end up. The creepy black stuff that I thought so important to the story judging from all the images I'd seen prior doesn't even really come into it until the movie's halfway mark.

OK so everything is finally (FINALLY!) tied together at the end but by then I didn't care.

Production wise I guess it was pretty good but the story shit me no end, count me out for Spidey 4

2 shishy stars out of 5

Guilty TV pleasures

2007-09-27T22:03:00.000+10:00

So You Think You Can Dance is a guilty pleasure. Mostly because while I really don’t like “reality” or talent shows all that much, (I do watch the occasional one here and there) I always make an exception for SYTYCD.

I loooooooooove it.

Except for Mary. Would someone please rip out her voicebox? Or at the very least could she come down with laryngitis? Christ she’s annoying. That screaming – just kill me now.

(Debbie Allen was a judge tonight. Most excellent.)

After the night of the first episode with the top 20, I couldn’t help it, I had to find out who wins this series. But I’m not going to tell you – you’ll have to either find out for yourself or watch right to the very end. I can’t say anything else about this, or comment on their performances ‘cause then that may clue you in.

Besides, what has actually prompted me to do this post is tonight’s dance by Pasha and Jessi. I love these guys. Certainly not the best dancers in the show, but definitely the ones for whom I will stop whatever I am doing in order to watch.

So, finding out that Jessi wasn’t going to dance with Pasha bothered me. What happened to bring this about was that she was hospitalised due to breathing problems. Pasha ended up dancing the Cha Cha with Melanie LaPatin, choreographer Tony Meredith’s assistant. Pasha was on fire!

After the performance Nigel announced that Jessi would have to dance for her life in the elimination show, since she wasn’t able to perform on the night. If she was still unable to perform – she would be automatically eliminated! Boo! Hiss!

Thankfully, Jessi was able to perform. She and Pasha did their Cha Cha as it was intended:

Unfortunately, Jessi got the boot. Bastards.

What can I say - it's a full moon.

2007-09-26T20:38:00.000+10:00

When I see stuff like this, not only am I ridiculously amused, I do have a moment's pause when I consider how many hours of work have gone into making these clips. Clearly these people have even less of a life than I do.

Anyhoo - I bring you Bohemian Rhapsody. In lego.

Musical theatre royalty !

2007-09-25T22:28:00.000+10:00

If I had known about this a little earlier I would have made this first post about Prisoner – my all time favourite trashy iconic TV series – but since I’ve already prattled on about that one I will move the focus over to Les Miserables, my all time favourite live musical.

The storyline of this show – based on the novel by Victor Hugo – is a very simple one, telling the story of how the paths of the lead characters cross over a period of 20 or so years. There are a multitude of sites around that have a very good description of the story – try here or here or here – so I wont bother with going into that. This is more about the music and the production over all.

Les Mis is a ‘sung through’ musical so all of the dialogue between the ‘songs’ is sung as well. Nothing new about that – there a lot of other shows that follow the same format, namely anything by Andrew Lloyd-Webber – but for me there is something very different about the way Les Mis presents itself with a lot of the ‘dialogue’ being just as, if not more, powerful than some of the actual songs.

Now, if you are looking for a happy happy joy joy musical with lots of frivolity and dancing, this one really isn’t for you. All bar 4 of the lead characters die before the curtain comes down, including the leading lady who perishes within about the first half hour. There are comic moments though provided by the Innkeeper and his wife but that isn’t what the story is actually about.

I will admit that I am a bit of a sook and get very wrapped up in the emotion of a scene or song and can name just about every part of the show where I will either tear up or have tears flowing. When I worked on the 10th Anniversary Tour back in ’99 I would watch parts of the show from the wings and even after about 80 performances would still find myself in tears in exactly the same spots – luckily we all worked in the dark !!!

Sets and costumes ? There are some big sets through the show but the over all look is minimalist and don’t expect to see a sequin anywhere but it all works in together to create the required mood. The imposing visual of the barricade set moving onto the stage in Act 2 is incredible.

Clip below is from a tribute concert to Cameron Mackintosh and I believe it is this is the only televised performance of Les Mis done in ‘performance mode’ which you can kind of tell from the applause when the curtain goes up. Any other televised performance has been done in concert mode or just as a solo (if I am wrong about that let me know). This medley of songs features Australian actor Philip Quast who is considered the one of, if not THE, best ‘Javert’ in the world.

If you haven’t seen it I do recommend the dvd of the 10th Anniversary Concert in London. It doesn’t give you the full impact but it’s the best substitute around and the cast is exceptional.

BJ and I saw it in London a couple of years ago and will be going again later this year. If it tours Australia again and you haven’t seen it before, get yourself a ticket ! I’d be very surprised if you were disappointed.

See ya :-)

The tragedy of Footballers Wives

2007-09-25T12:44:00.000+10:00

As promised, my first 'real' blog is about the inadvertent dramedy that is 'Footballers Wives'.

This show centres around the (oddly enough) wives of soccer stars from the fictional Earls Park FC, affectionally known as Sparks. They are tarty, trashy, bitchy and plastic and FANTASTIC. Now I could give you a run down of who wrote and produced this wonderful series but I think that is boring and this blog is all about the exciting. If you want to know the dull details you can always try the official site at http://www.footballerswives.tv/ - this is also the place to visit for photos of the stars.

My favourite storyline involves Amber Gates - the wife of the second captain of Sparks (the first one having been pushed off the top of a building by the daughter-in-law of the woman he had an affair with and sired a hermaphroditic child who she was passing off as her own - the daughter in law not the woman - have you kept up with me?) who slowly went insane over a couple of seasons. The best part was when Amber and Tanya (wife of first captain and all around tart) were pregnant to Conrad (the second captain - are you still with me because it gets more convoluted!) at the same time. Amber and Tanya both had boys on the same day (because Tanya, who tricked Conrad into getting her pregnant, forced a doctor to perform a c-section even though she wasn't due for a few weeks so she could swap the babies) and even though Amber and Conrad had split up, they were sharing a house. Amber, Tanya, Conrad and the babies that is. Given that Amber is Indian (from India not native american) and Tanya is pale, Tanya put tanning lotion on the baby she was passing off as Amber's. Any hoo - the big tragedy was when Ambers pug dog squashed the baby that Amber thought was hers but was in fact Tanya (and Tanya's second husbands - turned out the baby was not Conrad's after all).

So, I hear you ask, why did you title this blog the tragedy of Footballers Wives? Well unfortunately I was one of the few people world wide who recognised its greatness so it was cancelled during the hiatus following season 5. The world is suffering from the loss of this show and if you can get a hold of it start watching from season 1 - I don't think you will be able to stop!

She-ra

P.S. In the picture Tanya is the blonde standing next to Joan Collins and Amber is the dark haired one to the left.

Product Review: Chocolate

2007-09-24T21:39:00.000+10:00

Hey! Shish here...

By way of introduction, let me share something with you that is very close to my heart. Something that makes me happy, that makes me Shish and without it I can become a nasty cow.

I'm talking about chocolate...

...the happy pill of my choice

So my first post is a product review (count food as entertainment for me!) of Cabury's Dairy Milk Desserts range.

My hubby brought home family blocks of the Boysenberry Shortcake and Lemon Cheesecake varieties for us to try last night. He's a sucker for anything new, whereas I usually stick to the old favourites.

I always have my reservations about *new* flavours being introduced into tried and true brands and I think they are well founded after trying these new additions.

The names sounded good... Boysenberry Shortcake... Lemon Cheesecake...

makes you think..... mmmmm pie (I know that's probably what my husband was thinking)

but they've done the old *mix the flavours into the same creamy centre* trick, much like the mixed flavours in jelly belly beans so what you've got is boysenberry creme tainted with a shortcakey flavour instead of the creme on top of a bed of shortcake encased in yummy Cadbury's chocolate. The same goes with the Lemon Cheesecake, the lemon mixed with the biscuit base flavour, again not 2 yummy layers and to make it even more disappointing the lemon has a bitter aftertaste.

I've never been a huge fan of boysenberry but I was really looking forward to the lemon cheesecake and I wasn't overly fussed by it.

So trying the new range didn't leave me all that excited and definitely not wanting to rave about it. There is a Chocolate Brownie flavour available which sounds more promising but not so much so that I'll be hitting the shops tomorrow to get it.

No, I'll be sticking to my favourites; plain Dairy Milk, Peppermint, Caramello. The only *different* creme filled block that really caught my interest in recent times was the Cadbury Dream filled with Strawberry creme. That was tasty (sickly but tasty) sadly I think they've discontinued it though.

Has anyone else tried the new range? I'd be interested to know what you thought

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore

2007-09-23T11:57:00.000+10:00

I love Christopher Moore. My favourite book of his that I've read (I've still got three to go) is Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. While A Dirty Job doesn't rate that high (third on the Moore oeuvre if you must know - behind The Stupidest Angel), it is still damn good.

If you like Terry Pratchett, you'll like Chris Moore.

A Dirty Job is a story about Charlie Asher, Beta Male. Charlie's life changes for the twisted when his daughter is born. That same night his wife dies and Charlie becomes a Death Merchant.

Not Death, you understand. Charlie likes to use the Salvation Army Santas as part of his analogy. He's like a Santa's helper. But for Death.

The cast of characters include his daughter Sophie, her two hellhounds - Mohammed and Alvin - his sister Jane, his staff Ray and Lily, and his tenants Mrs Korjev and Mrs Ling.

"Don't fuck with me Asher. If you keep talking like that I'll get another piercing, take X until I'm dehydrated like a mummy, talk on my cell phone until the battery is dead, then find some skinny, pale guy and suck him until he cries."

"So, it will be like a Friday?"

Six years down the track and he's come to grips with his second "job". But Death is a very temperamental thing and suddenly, things seem to be taking a turn for the worse. Not just for him, but for San Francisco. And it seems Charlie is smack-bang in the middle of the whole mess.

I would have liked to have seen more Sophie in the book. One of the funniest bits was when she was staying at Jane's place and Cassie (Jane's partner) wouldn't let her take the dogs into the bath. She declared that Cassie was an "anti-Semite sympathiser" and that "you can't trust the goyim". Her response when Charlie pointed out he was a goyim? "Oh my God, they're everywhere, like pod people!" She's six.

If you do choose to read Moore's books, when you read the ones set in Pine Cove, it may be an idea to read them in order. I didn't, and it didn't totally spoil it for me, but knowing how some things are going to end up, reduced some of the humour for me. Overall though, I highly recommend Moore's books.

Crossposted here

Tee hee - something new

2007-09-20T21:34:00.000+10:00

I am the Princess of Power but you may call me She-ra.

When Magic B suggested this blog I jumped at the chance - where else can I talk about my love of all things trash. I love trashy books, trashy movies and especially trashy TV shows.

Just so you know a little about me - I have two children the eldest thinks he is a Sith lord and the youngest thinks he is Spongebob. I also have a husband who is convinced he has married into the wierdest family on earth - and who keeps switching safe search off Google. Try explaining some of those images to a 7 year old!

I work with Magic B who I swear doesn't have such a potty mouth in the office but I never used to cuss at all until I started working with her - she rubs off on poor innocents like me!

I think my first 'proper' post will have to be about my all time favourite TV show - Footballers Wives or maybe that should be Las Vegas or maybe 7th Heaven...

She-ra

Look! Something Shiny and New!

2007-09-16T13:15:00.001+10:00

Hello there

This is going to be a group blog, intended for the reviews and pontificating of those of us who are easily distracted by shiny things. That is (at this point in time) - books, magazines, movies and TV.

I am hoping that with more than one person contributing, it will be updated on a fairly regular basis.

If you like what you read, and would like to become part of the group, drop me an email at: somethingshinylook at yahoo dot com dot au. Let me know what you would like to write about, give me some examples of the kind of stuff you write or write about and you will be considered.

Meanwhile, pop by again soon - hopefully there will be a few changes on the site by then and a few more posts!

- Magic Bellybutton