I’m glad I left MediaSpy when I did….

…. because if I’d never been placed on their Mod Queue (a fate far worse than an outright ban), I would’ve been banned much later for frequently butting heads with a sanctimonious twat going by the name of Corday.

He appears to have absolutely NOTHING positive to say about most facets of Australian television. Hell, with a screen name like Corday, I don’t think he likes ANY drama show without the letters “ER” in it (Dr Liz Corday was Alex Kingston’s character in ER, BTW). And when he slammed Underbelly last year, I was especially incensed, as I happen to know a lady who made a brief appearance in it.

Sure, the show may have been a tad economical with the truth at times, and I have no doubt that the prequel – Underbelly: A Tale Of Two Cities – will be as well. But in order to pass as a drama program, certain things need to be fictionalised to produce that dramatic effect, so if people can never be satisfied with shows such as this, I strongly suggest that they stop ramming their opinions down the throats of others and watch a documentary on the subject instead.

Gran Torino = Great Film, and a couple of Oscar thoughts.

I won’t give away too many details about the plot, but let me just say that it’s one of Clint Eastwood’s best ever efforts, both in front of and behind the camera. And even though there’s a sting in the tail of it, it’s really not hard to see it coming.

At the same time, it’s a goddamn shame that it’s been overlooked for Academy Award consideration. No prizes for guessing one of the reasons for that: Eastwood’s character – Walter Kowalski – is quite the racist, and 99.5% of Hollywood cannot abide bigotry in any form, even in the make-believe world of movies.

Speaking of the Oscars, I really do hope that the Best Supporting Actor award goes posthumously to Heath Ledger. Nothing against any of the other nominees, of course, but it would be a fitting tribute.

How heinous.

I’m not a person who is easily shocked, but when I heard about this appalling incident earlier today, I was horrified.

What in the name of hell would compel any father to throw his own daughter off a bridge? Considering that stopping on the Westgate Bridge is practically illegal, no one will ever convince me that this was anything but a deliberate act of rage.

And since there’s no death penalty in Australia, I hope this prick goes to jail for life and decides to cut his own life short after being (deservedly) roughed up by his fellow inmates.

But somehow, I have a very nasty feeling he’s going to get off lightly, either by pleading temporary insanity or by pleading guilty to a lesser charge such as voluntary manslaughter. Meaning he’d most likely spend no more than 10 years in jail – which would be cut considerably if he behaves well – and if his psychosis is not treated in the meantime, he’ll reoffend once he’s out of jail.

Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if this scumbag tries to win a jury over with a story of how he “was abused as a child, leaving him incapable of breaking the child abuse cycle”. I sure as hell wouldn’t fall for it.

Tell us what you really think! ;-)

The person who originally posted this on YouTube is fairly adamant that this wasn’t a setup or a piss take, so I’ll take his/her word for it!

Yes, it’s not the most insightful post I’ve done, but in this stifling heat, making deep and meaningful statements is the last thing on my mind!

And not before time, I might add ;-)

I refer to the compensation and apologies offered to the very lovely Tania Zaetta after the despicable lies told about her during an entertainers’ tour to support Australian troops in Afghanistan.

I remember when Tania first appeared on Australian TV screens. As I recall, she replaced Lisa McCune on Channel Nine’s Supermarket Sweep in its second year, and would later go on to appear on Nine’s Just Kidding, then on Seven’s Who Dares Wins, before moving on to bigger and better things. And through all of this, she’s always struck me as being a sweet, down to earth woman who wouldn’t even dream of sleeping around on anyone.

This is in stark contrast to those bastards who started the vicious campaign to defame her, and I hope they were dishonourably discharged from the Australian Defence Force for this. I thought military training was supposed to teach young men and women courage, discipline, honour, loyalty, respect and responsibility, but it seems that the perpetrators in this case let it go to their heads, instead developing contempt for civilians and feeling entitled to treat them like inferior beings.

So let’s hope this situation isn’t repeated with any more female entertainers in the future.

The last word on a sensitive subject….

…. and the subject is the artist currently known as Ashlee Adams.

Despite my moment of weakness a number of weeks ago (see “This wasn’t one of my shining evenings” for details), I actually have no ill feeling toward Ashlee whatsoever. And to be honest with you, I actually admire her for her successful ventures in recent times, namely her stint in ZOO Weekly magazine and her Penthouse shoot.

Even though her exterior appearance (the tattoos, the piercings etc.) still isn’t my bag, and probably never will be, I know that this is a very different young woman from the one whose bad side I ended up on over a year ago. At that time, I knew she had a problem with her confidence and overall attitude that caused her to not reach her full potential at the Crazy Horse, and her refusal to talk to me about the Stripper Web incident – or anything else, for that matter – seemed to attest to that.

Of course, in the wake of the above incident, my own attitude to her wasn’t that great either, and I copped it on YouTube and MySpace for that. Perhaps my own bitterness over the Horse’s decline got the better of me on those occasions, and for that, I shall now say something I’ve meant to say for quite a long time:

I am so sorry.

I have a strong hunch that Ashlee has already found this blog, and just in case, I have two more things to say:

1. I want to thank her for not dishing any dirt on me since then (hell, there’s enough of it to fill AAMI Stadium twice ); and

2. I wish her continued success with Risqué Entertainment, and if she is to return to the Horse again soon, there will be no complaints from me.

So I leave you with this line from Edward R Murrow: “Good night, and good luck.”

The sooner the upgrade of Adelaide’s South Road occurs, the better! ;-)

And here’s why: I happened to be in the Croydon/Ridleyton area today, on that very road. Even though it wasn’t at peak hour – in fact, it was almost midday at the time – I found myself stopping about four times in the section that’s due to be upgraded due to heavy traffic, red lights and trains.

Even though I still believe a tunnel is the best option for the road, the site I’ve linked to above seems to be a bit more ambiguous as to how the road will eventually be improved. Perhaps an elevated, grade-separated stretch of road is being considered as an alternative, but in any case, something needs to happen. And soon.

Kim Kardashian will ALWAYS = LUNCH :-)

Even when she’s not all dolled up and doing nutty (but cute) things in photos such as these, she still looks good enough to eat. I just hope the raspberry she’s blowing in the first photo isn’t aimed at a big yucky bloke like myself!

Speaking of raspberries, I hear Kim’s been nominated for a Golden Raspberry award (or Razzie, if you will) for her part in Disaster Movie. A dubious honour, of course, but it actually wouldn’t surprise me if she displays a great sense of humour and actually shows up to accept it if she wins, just as Tom Green and Halle Berry did a number of years ago.

Happy Australia Day :-)

And for those who haven’t seen it yet, here’s Sam Kekovich’s latest announcement:

Anyone who isn’t even mildly amused by this needs a sense of humour, and fast!

And here’s a tip of advice to the Australian of the Year, Mick Dodson: don’t let it get to your head. Campaigning for Aboriginal issues is all well and good, and I have nothing but respect for that, but I don’t like your chances of getting the date of Australia Day changed any time soon. Most Australians are very conservative in that respect (to the Nth degree in South Australia, I might add ), and will never abide such a radical change.

Also, try not to make any outrageous statements such as a few made by the late Charles Perkins, a man who my paternal uncle once knew. Opposing discrimination is one thing, but saying things such as “Sydney will burn during the Olympics” borders on insanity.

APPROVED!!!

At this moment, I am a man filled with pride. My gamble to break the jinx with Sienna at The Palace last night worked brilliantly, and it turns out that the reason why she called in sick the night before was that she had a bout of sunstroke (poor baby ). So that little crisis is over, and I’m pumped up for my next strip club adventure on February 6th (my 31st birthday, naturally), provided a certain Joseph Farrugia doesn’t ruin things by not rostering baby Ariel on for that night at The Crazy Horse Revue.

Speaking of my birthday, I certainly hope a job offer for one (or both) of the jobs I was interviewed for is on the cards, because a new job in a familiar field would be a very welcome present indeed!