June 2, 2008

Kevin Rudd Sick Of Zombie Application Invites, Orders Staff Off Facebook In Retaliation

Australian Post Posted by Clem Bastow at 9:44 AM on June 2, 2008

Rudd pensive.jpgDay by day, his totally hip and groovy credentials slip away - now Kevin Rudd has taken a leaf out of Channel Seven and Swimming Australia's book and banned his staffers from using Facebook!

Well, he's asked them - probably politely - to remove themselves from the social networking site, but still. Exactly what for isn't made entirely clear by this article, though we are left to assume it's a preventative measure in order to avoid potential "embarrassment".

The request follows the publication at the weekend of pictures posted on Facebook that were taken by Mr Rudd's executive assistant Mr John Fisher while he was travelling overseas with the Prime Minister.
Oh, okay, that totally clears everything up then... Uh... Yup... Look! It's the GoodYear Blimp!

Seriously though, can't Kevin just update his privacy settings and go about in a flurry of de-tagging? Make a friend list, Kevin!

Things The Navy Doesn't Like: Pirates, Typhoons, 'Sea Patrol'

Australian Post Posted by Clem Bastow at 9:37 AM on June 2, 2008

Sea Patrol.jpgCouldn't help laughing when I saw the headline "No sex please, we're in the navy" yesterday, since I guessed almost immediately that it would be to do with my latest shit TV obsession: evidently ex-sailors are none too keen on Channel Nine's "exciting" drama series and Royal Australian Navy recruitment tool, Sea Patrol.

Now, why would they be dissing the "action packed" serial? It stars Our Lisa McCune, after all!

Naval Association of Australia president Les Dwyer has accused the popular Channel 9 show of undermining one of Australia's proudest institutions.

"The amount of sex on the show is simply a bloody joke," Mr Dwyer said.

...

"It makes a mockery of the incredible lengths that the navy and Department of Defence have taken to ensure that interpersonal relationships are kept at a professional level," Mr Dwyer said.

"The reality is some of it is absolutely absurd."

The love triangles aren't the only things that are mental about Sea Patrol - there always seems to be an endless supply of generic "pirates" or "rebels", who usually speak with non-descript accents that aren't too far off the old spear-waving "ooga booga, too raw, cook whitey" days (Prince Philip would probably love it).

But really, I'm surprised the Navy doesn't just find it unspeakably boring, particularly considering the presence of the Aaron Eckhardt of Australian television, Ian Stenlake, who is about as charismatic as balsa wood.

Amy Winehouse Round-Up: Wow, This Is Totally Surprising

Australian Post Posted by Clem Bastow at 9:25 AM on June 2, 2008

Amy Winehouse new.jpgYou know, I've got to be honest with you: there was a time when Winegums watch felt sort of edgy and thrilling, like "what's she going to do next?", but it's getting to the point where you can be pretty much certain that what she's going to do next will involve drugs, booze, missing gigs, sounding like a fish-wife, Pete Doherty, mystery cuts and bruises, or, in this case, a combination of all of the above (except, mercifully, Doherty).

Basically, Any Winehouse something something gig something something sounded like shit something something bruises and cuts something something purple monkey dishwasher.

To fans memorised by her music, nothing would have seemed amiss.

But anyone with a shrewder eye would have seen the dark purple bruise marking Amy Winehouse's otherwise pale complexion as she performed last night.

Obviously conscious of how it must look Amy touched her neck repeatedly, possibly trying to cover the mark.

It could be a lovebite or perhaps the sober star fell over on one of her wild nights out.

Whatever the reason, she apologised to the audience at a festival in Lisbon after delivering a shaky performance at her first gig since leaving rehab - blaming a sore throat.

The Grammy-winning jazz-pop diva turned up almost an hour late for the outdoor performance at the Rock in Rio festival in the Portuguese capital.

Her voice cracked during the 55-minute set and she appeared distracted.

Haha, is the bit where they say "the sober star fell over" a LOL or what? Seriously, "sober"? Or am I just getting ahead of the eight-ball by about a week to her inevitable relapse?

Basically, if Amy Winehouse is sober, I'm Space Jeebus.

Welcome To The Slack Parade

Australian Post Posted by Clem Bastow at 9:13 AM on June 2, 2008

My-chemical-romance.jpgRemember how the My Chemical Romance fans ("DON'T CALL US EMOS!") were going to march on the offices of The Daily Mail in a show of support for their favourite band, so often dubbed a "suicide cult", and they'd show those meddling tabloid journos a thing or two?

Well, they did, only it probably wasn't as exciting or impressive as it possibly could've been.

Particularly since, you know, they didn't actually make it to the offices.

Most of today's demonstrators were young girls, who chanted: "Don't blame MCR (My Chemical Romance)."

Some dressed in typical emo fashion - tight black jeans, studded belts, dyed black hair - and heeded organisers' website requests to "consider dressing to suit the day ... Don't try to dress stereotypically."

Accordingly, some fans wore homemade T-shirts with slogans such as "Think happy thoughts".

The teenagers had initially wanted to march to the Daily Mail's offices off chic Kensington High Street, but police quashed that idea because of security concerns.

Instead the main protest took place at the Marble Arch monument, next to Hyde Park, as smaller groups were allowed to protest outside the offices.

So if the large group was only 100 people, how big do you reckon the smaller ones were? Fifteen? Ten? Two?

Really, you would've thought the power of Facebook could've made this the protest to end all protests - perhaps they should've bought Corey Worthington a packet of black LiveColour and let him organise the day?

2008 MTV Movie Awards Liveblog: Game On!

Posted by Mark Graham at 8:00 AM on June 2, 2008

Well, we're here. We fought our way through hellacious traffic — 45 minutes on the off-ramp alone! — and we battled through the blazes that engulfed the famed clocktower from Back To The Future earlier today. Now Molly McAleer and myself are here are perched on the (surprisingly product placement free) yellow carpet, ready to take Hollywood down from the inside (again, we're still not sure how we managed to slip through the rigorous credentialing process). While we're still a little unsure of how all this will go down, one thing is assured — we'll be doing our best to wreak havoc. All of the action can be found after the jump!

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Breaking! Universal Studios On Fire; Will Tonight's MTV Movie Awards Go On?

Posted by Mark Graham at 12:59 AM on June 2, 2008

It's not even 8am and today is already setting up to be a real doozy. Reports are just coming in that the Universal Studios backlot — possibly the Back To The Future set — is on fire right right now. A tipster sent in the above photo and wrote in that he "woke up to loud bangs - almost like tanks were exploding." While there are no reports suggesting that the blaze is anywhere near the Gibson Ampitheater, where the MTV Movie Awards are scheduled to be held later this afternoon, we will certainly keep you posted. Don't forget, so long as the red carpet isn't on fire, we're scheduled to be liveblogging the awards today beginning at 3pm PST. As they say in the business, developing...

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