Thursday, August 28, 2008
Fairfax Staff On Strike!
5:30PM Clem Bastow | On Tuesday, Fairfax announced 550 job cuts across their editorial staff. On Wednesday, the first to go was The Age’s editor-in-chief, Andrew Jaspan. And now, on Thursday, Fairfax staff are on strike until Monday!
Here’s the word we were just sent via the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance’s handy SMS service, in two parts: More » 
Vale Mark Priestley
1:30PM Clem Bastow | Extremely sad news this afternoon: All Saints star and talented theatre actor Mark Priestley has died. He was found later yesterday in Sydney’s CBD near the hotel he was staying in; ambulance officers initially thought he’d suffered a heart attack but later indicated they believed his death was a suicide. Priestley had apparently been struggling with depression; he was only 32 years old. Channel Seven has released the following statement:
Mark Priestley was a tremendous young person – loved and respected by his fellow All Saints cast members and crew.
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Sonia Kruger Appreciation Day!
12:10PM Jess McGuire | Guess what today is, folks?
IT’S SONIA KRUGER’S BIRTHDAY! That’s right, Defamer Australia’s BFF Tina Sparkle is turning 21 years old (deep breaths, Dido fans) today, and we wish her all the best on this blessed Thursday.
We are hoping to reach out to her “people” and see if we can actually one day talk to her, hold her in our arms, laugh and cry whilst watching a Sex and The City marathon on the telly, and maybe dance around to girly music till we grow giddy with delight and collapse on the couch to scoff ice-cream and talk about boys.
Failing that, we’re going to land an interview with our goddess if it kills us.
SONIA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! DEFAMER AUSTRALIA LOVES YOU AND IS ALSO RATHER UNCLEAR REGARDING THE RULES OF WEIGHTLIFTING TOO!
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Amy Winehouse Round-Up: Who You Gonna Call?
10:30AM Clem Bastow | Clearly it’s that time in the world of Winehouse, where there’s been a Shocking Allegation™ and now everyone is sitting around twiddling their thumbs, waiting for the follow-up salvo or retraction or confirmation or admission to rehab or ANYTHING. To wit, in the interim, this amazing filler news from The Post: it looks like Amy’s house might be haunted! Ooh, that oughtta tide you over, eh?? The rented property where Amy Winehouse is currently holed-up in her battle to kick drugs has a dark secret – a previous occupant died there. More »
Ready Your Bedazzler, Kylie’s ‘X2008′ Tour Announced For December
10:09AM Clem Bastow | Our illustrious Editor’s heart – or even two of them, as it were – will be beating together when she reads this news (presently she is resting after making last night’s I’d Rather Jack Radiothon show possibly the best two hours of radio I have ever heard – but more on that from the woman herself later!): Kylie has announced an Australian tour! Quick, to the official-press-release-mobile!
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Australian Idol Round-Up: Vesna Is Not Amused
10:00AM Clem Bastow | Old-timer Big Brother fans would’ve been thrilled to see the nation’s favourite hairdresser and fan of “intimate wash” pop up on Australian Idol the other night. However, the pint-sized firecracker was not there to sing, but to support her boyfriend Sebastian Pluchinotta – and what happened next was typical of the show’s increasingly dodgy “direction”. To wit, Dicko and Kyle were not satisfied that Pluchinotta was straight, and made him sing his chosen song directly to Vesna’s face; Dicko then mock-stormed out, evidently in protest of the massive amounts of gaydar his antennae were picking up (I picked up roughly 5% gaydar, and that was from the loving looks Dicko and Kyle were giving each other). Pluchinotta did not get through. Unsurprisingly, Vesna is pissed, and is letting everyone know about it. More » 
Nicole Kidman “Finally” “Shows” Us Sunday Rose. Or Her Sunday Washing, Can’t Quite Be Sure
9:30AM Clem Bastow | Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s treatment of their new daughter Sunday Rose has been positively unheard of in Hollywood terms – that is, they’ve treated her like a newborn baby rather than a product to be handled with the same level of pomp and circumstance as the unveiling of the latest miniature, scale clay model of a go-faster sportscar. So, we can probably forgive the papps and the papers for getting a bit toey; it’s like going from sex on the first date to true love waits. And since it’s evidently a bit naff to be using those sorts of metaphors in the same paragraph as baby Sunday Rose, I’ll just zip it for a moment.
Kidman was snapped with the couple’s newborn, as she boarded a Gulfstream 5 plane bound for London.
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Immigration Dept. Keen To Drop Snoop’s Visa Like It’s Hot
9:08AM Clem Bastow | You may recall that last year, Tha D-O-double-Gizzle was due to present the MTV Australia Music Video Awards, but that the Immigration Department computer said no, and Snoop Dogg was sent on his not-so-merry way. Well, it’s a case of deja vu, doggy style (sorry, I’ll stop soon), as Snoop’s widely publicised “return” to the MTV AVMAs stage has, once more, been given the kybosh – for the time being – from those party poopin’ Doggy haterz at the Immigration Department. Peep this:
“Mr Broadus has not been granted a visa, there are further steps required beyond character assessment before a visa is granted.
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‘Spider-Man 4′ Walk-On Role Auction Nice Fallback Plan For Kirsten Dunst
9:05AM Seth | If your acting career isn’t going the way you had hoped, may we humbly suggest you kick start things by buying yourself a role in a summer superhero blockbuster? “But that’s impossible,” you’re no doubt saying to yourself. “Hollywood is the quintessential meritocracy, where with nothing but hard work, talent, and some good luck thrown in, all your wildest fantasies can come true!” Well you keep telling yourself that. We’ll be over here, emptying our 401k and cashing our Bar Mitzvah bonds to make sure we win this Spider-Man 4 VIP Experience eBay auction, a bounty including: More »
