Thursday, August 7, 2008
Would You Like To Hear A New Song From Kings Of Leon?
5:45PM Jess McGuire | Those handsome Followills of Nashville have just popped their latest tune ‘Sex On Fire’ onto their MySpazz page. What are your thoughts? It’s from the album Only By The Night which is due out quite shortly. I heard from a friend that some dude from Kings Of Leon’s record company was calling a new Kings Of Leon track “the single of the year” but I have a feeling they may have been referring to the single which will be released after ‘Sex On Fire’.
Also, when did Ryan Adams join the band?
MORE: Kings Of Leon on MySpace More » 
What The Hell Is Going On With Qantas?
5:37PM Jess McGuire | Dear Qantas,
Please, get your shit together. It’s breaking my heart to keep reading about your woes.
A QANTAS Boeing 737 has aborted a take-off at Melbourne Airport after noises were heard coming from the undercarriage. The Canberra-bound plane returned to the terminal and passengers were transferred to another flight.
A Qantas spokeswoman says QF850 had problems with its air conditioning duct unit.
“It was a routine return to the terminal due to an air-conditioning fault,” she said. “Rather than delay passengers further a replacement aircraft was arranged and the flight took off just before 1pm.”
The incident is the latest in a recent run of scares for Australia’s national airline.
I miss the days when we knew we could depend on you. Although to be fair, I think there’s a slight chance the media is jumping upon absolutely everything they can in order to make it look as though your fleet is made up of a couple of tin death traps rescued from the scrapyard after WWII. More » Nicole And Keith Give The Kyle And Jackie O Show A Call
3:12PM Jess McGuire | When I first heard Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban had called up Kyle and Jackie O to give them the lowdown on little Sunday Rose, I thought “Wow, that’s a weird combination – do Nic and Keith really sit and listen to those 2Day FM idiots when they’re in town?”
And you know what I learned from listening to Kyle and Jackie O’s exclusive interview with the loved up pair?
Firstly, I learned that Nicole is happy to admit on air that she and Keith listen to the show every morning. Unexpected!
Secondly, I learned that listening to Kyle and Jackie O doesn’t make me as violent as it used to years ago. Have they improved or am I just more tolerant these days? WHY AM I NOT HATING KYLE SANDILANDS LIKE I USED WHEN LIFE MADE SENSE?! This feels just like that time Perez Hilton made me laugh out loud.
Anyway, it’s a pretty good interview with both Nicole and Keith, and I am as surprised as you are to be saying that. Be sure to listen out for the bit where Kyle tells Keith he was going to send them a pony as a gift following Sunday’s birth but was informed by Keith’s people that there were “no facilities” on Keith’s ranch in Nashville for such a present.
In a rather sweet moment, you can hear Keith pull the phone away and giggle to Nic “They were going to send us a pony, baby!” and Nicole laughs heartily in response.
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Also: Sunday Rose is a confirmed ginger. Sorry, ranga!
Now you can kill me for having enjoyed a Kyle and Jackie O segment. Thank you. More » The Australian Local Music Press
1:41PM Jess McGuire | My beloved chum Dave the Scot alerted me to this astoundingly rubbish assessment of the Australian music press, as penned for The Guardian by UK rock critic Everett True who has moved to Brisbane and found himself bitterly disappointed by the local street press. Now, I’m not saying we have the greatest music rags in the world, but the following opening paragraph is just complete shit.
Australians don’t have much respect for the music press – it runs counter to their culture. Australian rock is all about “Good on ya, mate – well done for getting up on stage and switching that amplifier on”. The idea of anyone actually daring to criticise musicians for the sound they make is almost heresy. Everyone is treated equally, which means no knocking anyone back, however great the temptation. (That’ll be why Australian rock is best known to the outside world for such musical abominations as Silverchair, the Vines and Savage Garden.) Sport is the predominant culture here, and music is similarly viewed as a leisure activity – it’s all about “work rate”, “dedication” and “goals scored”. Unsurprisingly, Australians get the music press they deserve.
More » 
‘The Opals Are Quite Prepared To Choke A Bitch During The Olympics’ Warns Lauren Jackson
1:30PM Jess McGuire | Alright, I know the Olympics are a competitive time and there’s nothing athletes like better than talking a little ’smack’ (as they say in the ‘hood), but even I was surprised by how wonderfully aggressive Lauren Jackson’s warning to lady-basketballers from other countries was!
Opals superstar Lauren Jackson has warned rivals they risk serious injury if they get physical on court with the Australian women’s team. Lauren Jackson fired a stinging warning yesterday to arch-rivals USA in the wake of their bruising 71-67 loss on Tuesday night. The narrow defeat left Australia’s attacking weapon Penny Taylor with a badly bruised eye.
Uh-oh. That shit ain’t gonna fly. Lauren? Bring it.
“In terms of physicality we’re used to playing against teams that are going to beat the crap out of us, becase we are so good,” Jackson said.
See how in simply one sentence, Lauren Jackson has managed to raise awareness of the fact certain teams are rather bash-happy on the court when facing off with the Opals, indicated that the Opals are tough enough to handle such malarkey, and then boasted of the Australian team’s extremely ace skills. Gals got game, you see.
“People have to stop us somehow, and that’s the way they’re going to stop us especially people like us; Penny and myself and Belinda Snell who you just can’t let go to the basket because we’ll kill people.”
SHE JUST WENT THERE, PEOPLE!
If this was some sort of canny plan hatched by Lauren in order to get punters intrigued enough to tune into their games during the Olympics, then it’s bloody well worked. I know I will be tuning in to all their matches, and baying for blood. More » 
Amy Winehouse Round-Up: That’s A Good Meatball
1:26PM Clem Bastow | For whatever reason, the UK press has gone eerily quiet on the topic of Winegums this past week or so (it perhaps has something to do with the results of this highly reputable survey). So, in an effort to keep the Winegums hits coming, I looked beyond the holy trinity of the Daily Mail, The Sun and Mirror – and wasn’t I pleased I did. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you this stunning update from “Entertainment & Showbiz, India”!
A track from Amy Winehouse’s latest album would certainly turn out to be a song to savour, literally so, for it is based on cooking meatballs.
While Amy’s been keen to eat healthily and put on weight since she came out of hospital last month, her new album is reportedly an attempt to recapture her childhood.
The unnamed track goes: “I can cook, chicken soup, meatballs, a good chicken – jerk and fried.”
Amy revealed that she used to pop into the kitchen of her favourite boozer The Hawley Arms, grab some frozen mince, and make meatballs for her pals after boozy nights out.
Jeez, Londoners, you sure picked a good time to stop tuning in to the Winegums frequency – just look at the material you’re missing out on! This is quality shit right here! Who else wants some of this sweet, sweet Amy Winehouse news?! Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my 12-step meeting. More » 
Channel Ten Is Really Hoping ‘90210′ V 2.0 Is Actually Good
11:35AM Clem Bastow | When it comes to television programming, what’s worse? Buying in programs that everyone knows are crap (step right up, Channel Nine!), rootling around in the archives for “exclusives” (ahoy, Channel Seven!), or signing the cheque on a series without so much as looking at the pilot? If you’re Channel Ten, then apparently the latter is the lesser of three evils – they’ve bought the nouveau 90210 sight-unseen!
Ten’s head of programming David Mott said the show was already generating worldwide buzz, with the mix of original cast members and hot new talent appealing to Beverly Hills 90210 virgins sealing the deal.
“Generation X, who were targeted in the 1990s, have grown up and the show is already creating buzz in Generation Y,” Mott said.
“I think it’s a no brainer . . . in our initial discussions with producers we were talking about the issues that faced Generation X and they haven’t gone away.”
I particularly like how if you read that fast, it looks like Mott is complaining that Generation X haven’t gone away. In any case, this could actually be a good move on the part of Ten (you know, assuming that the show doesn’t actually blow, that is): they’ll hook in the Gen Xers and hopefully some young’uns who have been listlessly drifting through Supré since the day Marissa Cooper died. More » 
Respected Newsman Anderson Cooper Mistakenly Assumes Ali Lohan Is 60
11:11AM Seth | · We should really watch CNN more often: A spoonful of Big Gay Bitch Anderson Cooper’s ultracatty insights into the Lohan clan really helps the hard news go down. [CNN] · Whew—that was a close one. Mary Kate Olsen is officially off the hook after the U.S. Attorney’s Office closes the case on Heath Ledger’s death. [People] · Gawker urges journalists covering the Olympics to search out the next Tonya Harding. “Why? Whyyy?” Ah—that never gets old. [Gawker] · Mr. Blackwell is at death’s door! (Death looks hideous by the way—that cloak is so drab and dowdy.) [ETOnline] · Canadians are not as nice as previously assumed. [Yahoo] More »
America’s Got Not Enough Room In It For Two Drag Queen Talents Is What America Has
10:33AM Seth | Apparently, NBC has decided to continue going through the paces of finding America’s Top Talent-Haver, when clearly feline pretzel-girl Victoria already has this rodeo all sewn up. Still, there’s something to be said for adhering to reality show protocol—particularly when tucking royalty struts among us—and so we were more than happy to take in Drag Tina Turner’s electrifying semi-final audition, which unfolded with clockwork precision as her main competition, Drag Britney Spears, watched nervously from the wings. Of course, there was only room for one drag finalist; that, unfortunately, went to neither performer, but rather a Victoria impersonator—played by a 55-year-old, four-foot-tall Chinese-American letter carrier from Sioux Falls, SD—who proved as astonishingly flexible as his adorably whiskered inspiration. More »
