Thursday, May 22, 2008

If What The... could be brought back




Then surely this would be in it, right?

Found in "Psychology for Australian and New Zealand edition" by Westen.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Hail to the Rove!




Upon opening my diary on the morning of Tuesday 13th May, I was pleasantly greeted by a photo of a boyish looking man with very short hair, holidng a fish bowl. May has officially been renamed as "The month formerly known as May that will now be known as Rove." At least in my world it has been. And my world is AWESOME!!

The whole day I was filled with nervous excitment (is there any other kind?). Going to Rove's stand up show was really, really special to me, becuase the last time he toured was in 2005. When I was overseas. In Egypt. Riding a friggin camel. In the desert. That may sound cool to other people, but clearly, I was not impressed. I came back from that holiday ON THE LAST NIGHT OF HIS SYDNEY SHOW.
So, you can imagine how adament I was on getting tickets to see him in Sydney, especially as they were first released with the words "ONE SHOW ONLY!" attached. (Token, I'm looking at you).
Learning from my experience at both the taping of "Rove" and the James Blunt concert, I came prepared. I charged my digital camera AND my phone, just in case-ys.
Katerina, my BFF and fellow nutcase, bravely agreed to see the show with me. I say brave because as it turns out, I almost spontaneously combusted. Almost.
The night was planned with military style precision.And it went a little bit like this:
1730 hrs: Leave house to go pick up Kat.
1800 hrs: Arrive at Kat's place.
1805 hrs: Kat enters car shoeless.
1806 hrs: Kat has both shoes on
1821 hrs: Arrive at Enmore Theatre.
Side note: I didn't realise there would be a HUGE FRIGGIN BILLBOARD OF ROVE at the Theatre. Otherwise, I would ahve been camera ready :(
1824 hrs: Walk around to find food.
1825 hrs: Food is found. (Chips ala Portugese style- doubley yum!)
1850 hrs: Walk back to Enmore.

And this point, we arrived at our first dilemma- would they check bags? Quick answer: no. Crisis over. (I will give a fantail and/or cookie to the first person who gets the reference.)
Second dilemma (well for me, anyway). I have a thing with concerts and the like, where I have to get a t-shirt as a souvenir. Lo and behold, there in the corner, as Kat and I walked in, was the teeny tiny merchandising counter. (insert lame reference to Rove's height).
Me: OMG!!!! KAT!!! HE HAS T-SHIRTS!
Kat: Oh, cool. Are you gonna get one?
Me: *blank face* Duh.
Kat: Which one?
Me: OMG, BABY BUMP!!! Huh? oh...I don't know! Which one do you think I should get?
Kat: Baby Bump?
Me: I'll explain later. It's in the show. WHICH ONE SHOULD I GET?!?!
Kat: Which one do you like?
Me: Ths fish one looks nice...
Kat: So get that one.
Me: BUT BABY BUMP!!!!
Kat: *pauses* Think about it logically. Would you wear the Baby Bump tee to uni? What if you were bloated? It might look like you were preggers!
Me: *considers* True dat. And it's probably intended for guys anyway.
Lady at counter: Do you want the fitted or normal tee?
Me: OH GOD, MORE OPTIONS?!?!?!?

After that bit of crazy, we were ushered to our seats, which I have to say, deserve a special mention for being SO AWESOME! We were so close to the stage, I was literally having little freak outs and making sure my top was staying on (don't take it like that!!! It was really loose at the straps :( But so pretty!)
Took a picture of the stage twice. Once with my camera on the phone and the second, Kat took on my digital camera. But not before we mucked around and took like a thousand pictures of ourselves for facebook. (Again, reference scores a goodie.) Coincidentally, the two slightly older ladies behind us were doing the same. Kat and I both noticed the ratio of ladies to men was a bit out of whack. Make of that what you will.
Kat: "It's 7:35!"
Me: "ABCEDFGGGGGGGGGGG!!!" Squeel. Squeel. Squeel. Kat can show you the nail marks.

And it was with a bang (literally) that the show began. And the first thing I noticed? He was wearing my jeans. And he has tiny legs!! I had heard from another friend who had seen him at red carpet even that he was quite skinny, but at the "Rove" taping, I didn't notice because he was hidden underneath the suit. But he really is short and skinny. Cept for the bulging arms. Tres distracting.

ATTENTION!!!!!!!!! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!! You have been warned.
I don't want to give too much away, but personal highlights are as follows:
- "I LIKE ICE-CREAM!" YESSSS!!! Bring it back Rovey. bring it back. I think I was the only one clapping when he said this.
- "Note to self- more dumb songs" Yes please. Loved both of them. In fact, any time that Rove sings and/or dances, there are bits of me that just go giddy.
- The fact that no-one was in the chair infront of me, thus allowing for perfect vision and attempts to make eye contact.
- The Benny Hill parts... *giggles*
- Emoticons! Rove is so good at facial funnies- he's a physical comic, which sometimes doesn't come across on the television.
-Cockroach bit- I swaer he was pointing and talking about Kat, but she denies this. Not what he said,b ut that he was referencing her.
- The George Bush part- Shout out to Eleni.
- SYTYCD- shout out to Karina.
-The Santa Clause part.
- When he had no idea where the joke was going.
- The bird part. I was so tempted to bring band aids just in case. But I loved the extra bit he put in at the end.
- The medical examination *giggles* "I've seen Rove's Logie,and it ain't so Gold!"
- Any and all times that he swore. As Kat and I agreed "He sounds like a 12 yr old cursing!"
- the girly voice. I *heart* it. AND HE DID HIS GIRLY RUN!!!!
- The fruit cake/sun dried part.
- The tabloids part. Nod, nod , nod.

Was also pleasantly surprised to find no opening act. Not that I'm against supporting new Aussie comics, but more Rovey for my buck pwease!
Sadly, unlike Wil Anderson's show, Rove went backstage immediately after the show and didn't come back out for meet and greet.
But not before I scored the pic at the start of this post. It's my new wallpaper on my computer *le sigh*
To be honest, I didn't want the show to end. It didn't feel like there we were there watching this mega star tell jokes to us: more like we just happened to stumble upon one another and start a conversation. A fantastic show; I give it 9 Roves' out of 10 McManus'



Monday, May 5, 2008

Logies 08

The most wonderful time of the year....

Aaah, the Logie Awards. TV's night of nights. I *heart* it, not simply for it's un-Hollywood slickness that covers most awards ceremonies (we keep it real.) but simply because it is the only time we get to celebrate the best and worst of Aussie TV. I don't care what anyone says, I love it and will defend it to the end.

Let's get on with it then, shall we?

Red carpet started off brilliantly with Kylie's "Wow" being played. And then got progressively cheesier from there. Noticed a lot of off the shoulder/grecian style dresses and canary yellow seemed to be the in colour. Also, lots of black and white.
Best Dressed: hmmm...Megan Gale or Kate Ritchie, although my little sister described it as having "thrown a curtain on her and brishing her hair nice"
Georgie Parker..basic black but me likey. But there was no scrunchie! What's with that, Georgie, hmmm?!?!?
Worst Dressed: Jordi Gordon, hands down. Metallic tutu?!?!!? WTF. I didn't see Susan Eleman's outfit (was she even there?) I also wasn't feeling Natalie Blair's outfit. The hair ruined it for me. Michelle Bridges (trainer from the Biggest Loser) could have done without her wings. Andrew O'Keefe and his angry gold jacket.
Honourable mention: Rove's suit was classy, Mafia style. Jason Coleman...I have no words for you. Rhys, to stilletos on men, Australia says no.


The show
With 50 years of the Tv Week Logie Awards, I was expecting clips and montages aplenty. Instead, I found this years show to be the most entertaining out of any of the previous awards that I've watched. The show started with the top 10 from So You Think You Can Dance, who did an amazing job with "Don't Hold Back"
And yes, Jack was the shit and proved worthy of his title of "Australia's favourite dancer"
Couple of highlights/lowlights/lights:
-In lieu of clips and montages, they asked a bunch of stars questions like "Favourite Logie moment?" "Who do you associate with the Logies?" and "ever witnessed a controversial moment at the Logies?" Hilarious! Best part was the random dancing to the Veronicas' "Untouched". Loved it! If there's a link on youtube, I'll post it.

EDIT: Ta-dah!!!
[link]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge_r0vmsYhs[/link]

- When Binid Irwin won.
Nominees announced...
Me: I'll eat my slipper if she wins.
*winner announced*
Me: *spazz face* Oh shit.
- Hamish and Andy backstage.
- Adam Hills' reading his acceptance speech when his jokes fell flat.
-Patti Newton!!! and Ding Dong Drysdale!!!
- Danni Minogue and the ladies from Kath and Kim. I was loving myself sick.
- Mr G's performance. I was freaking out hardcore and my parents thought I was retarded. Actually, they thought I was retarded before this, but my reaction just solidifed it for them.
Screw it, any time Chris Lilley won. Twas brill.
- Stephen Curry's speech after winning "Most Outstanding Actor" for "The King." Totally deserved it!
- Rove winning "Most Popular Presenter" for the 6th time in a row. I was jumping up and down with joy! Or something similar to that feeling. RF and Ro have decided that they should officially rename the award "The Rove McManus award for Most Popular Presenter" Oh, and him checking his fly and deciding to announce to it to the audience.
- Sonia Kruger totally hating on HER OWN SHOW!! I love her/I hate her, I can't get enough of the Krug.
-"Australian Story: Some Meaning in This Life" winning and the ensuing beautiful speech by the team. Total silence in the auditorium. Though, I'm a little perturbed that Rove wasn't thanked. No biggie, but still....
- Daryl Sommers final hoorah.
"Maybe we should bring Hey Hey back?"
*expecting applause*
*dead silence*
Sucker.
- Peter Helliar as "Strauchnie" and giving Ch 9 a battering onstage with Eddie McGuire.
-Any mention of the Chaser boys.
-And for that, any Todd McKenney jokes.
- Andrew Denton and his 101:1 odds of winning.
- The lack of crappy American tv stars. Thank God!!!!
- Kate winning gold. Hapy endings for all.

And now the full list of winners (from the Hearld Sun site):
POPULAR AWARDS
Gold Logie - Most Popular Personality on TV:Kate Ritchie (Home and Away)
Silver Logie - Most Popular Actress:Kate Ritchie (Home and Away)
Silver Logie - Most Popular Actor:Chris Lilley (Summer Heights High)
Most Popular Light Entertainment Program: Kath & Kim
Most Popular Presenter:Rove McManus (Rove / Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?)
Most Popular Sports Program:The Footy Show AFL
Most Popular New Female Talent: Bindi Irwin (The Jungle Girl)
Most Popular New Male Talent: Lincoln Lewis (Home and Away)
Most Popular Reality Program:Dancing With The Stars
Most Popular Factual Program:Bondi Rescue
Most Popular Lifestyle Program:Better Homes and Gardens
Most Popular Australian Drama:Home And Away

MOST OUTSTANDING AWARDS
Silver Logie - Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie: Curtin
Silver Logie - Most Outstanding Actor:Stephen Curry (The King)
Silver Logie - Most Outstanding Actress:Alison Whyte (Satisfaction)
Most Outstanding News Coverage:Garuda Plane Crash
Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report:Some Meaning In This Life: Belinda Emmett
Most Outstanding Documentary:Constructing Australia: The Bridge
Most Outstanding Factual Series:Choir of Hard Knocks
Most Outstanding Comedy Program:Summer Heights High
Most Outstanding Sports Coverage:Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
Most Outstanding Children's Program:Lockie Leonard
Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent:Tammy Clarkson (The Circuit)
Hall of Fame:John Clarke

(Apologies for the lack of pictures. I'm too scurred to put any up re: legalities)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

James Blunt @ Ent Cent 3 May

The first time I saw James Blunt live was at The Hordern Pavillion in 2006. Well actually, it was his performance at MTV AVAMA's, (but that's another story!). I was unsure of what to expect of him live, but after that evening, I came away a fully fledged fan.
So it was with absolute excitement that I entered the Ent Cent at 7:58pm, clutching my tickets and praying that I wouldn't fall over in my heels.
The support act was Gabriella Cilmi (of "Sweet About Me" fame). I had been listening to her record for two/three weeks now, before knowing she was booked for the show. Her record is good, some strong tracks, some forgettable ones. As a live performer, she's good, but a little lazy. She performed about 6 songs, including a cover of JT"s "Cry Me A River". Katerina noted, along with myself, that she seems to wear the same standard outfit for every appearance. Hmmmm...
The Blunt was brilliant. He played for around 2 hrs (including a 3 song encore). All the favourites were there- "Give Me Some Love", "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover" among some of them. Personal highlights were "Coz I Love You" ( a cover of the Slade classic, which he also had in his 06 show. Since that show, I've had a wonderful affair with the song, and I'm so glad I recorded his version). and "Annie" ("This is a song about a very naughty girl" Me: "OMG!!! YES!!!)
Although I did wish he would have put in "Where is My Mind" and "Fall At Your Feet", I'm glad he covered most of the songs off "All The Lost Souls", because it truly is a brilliant record.
In short, Jimmy was a blast. :)
Crap pics and video will be up shortly.