Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wahey! After A Short Break From Making Headlines, Qantas Has Resumed Normal Near-Death Service
6:22PM Jess McGuire | It’s been a few months (well, two…) since Qantas were in the news because of some disastrous incident mid-air, and to be honest with you, I was starting to miss the fear mongering headlines. Thank god that’s over and we’re back in business – a Qantas flight has just made an emergency landing in WA after a mid-air incident which left 50 people on the plane injured.
The flight – QF72 from Singapore – made the landing at Learmonth Airport, near Exmouth at 2.30pm, PerthNow reported.
The flight experienced “a sudden change in altitude” before diverting to Learmonth, Qantas said.
“A number of passengers and crew sustained injuries, including fractures and lacerations, on board QF72 this afternoon en route from Singapore to Perth following a sudden change in altitude,” Qantas said.
And it looks like some of the passengers’ injuries required a trip to the hospital… More » 
‘Beaconsfield: A Musical in A-Flat Minor’ Not Getting Rave Reviews From Actual Beaconsfield Miner Todd Russell
4:54PM Jess McGuire | Dear oh dear… who would’ve thought that the affable Foo Fighters-loving Todd Russell would be up in arms over a harmless little Fringe Festival production called Beaconsfield: A Musical in A-Flat Minor, eh? Well, erm, actually anyone who stopped and considered that a friend of Russell’s, Larry Knight, died in the disaster and perhaps the ‘A-Flat Minor’ touch was slightly insensitive… Either way, Todd Russell is not pleased with the man behind the production Dan Ilic, claiming to be “disgusted” by news the mining disaster had been turned into a musical comedy. Also not happy? Larry Knight’s family.
The widow and family of Beaconsfield mine accident victim Larry Knight are distressed and appalled by a new musical comedy, Beaconsfield: A Musical In A-Flat Minor.
The play, to be performed at the Melbourne Fringe Festival from tomorrow night, is being marketed as the “feel good piss-take of the year”, but is generating outrage.
More » Looks Like Some Of Top Gear’s Fans Are Really Taking The Rubbishness Of The Australian Version To Heart
3:24PM Jess McGuire | Trawling through the 200+ comments on news.com.au on the Top Gear Australia article we referenced earlier today, I was struck by the passion of Top Gear’s fans, and somewhat astounded by how riled up they seemed to be over the disappointing attempt to produce a localised version of the program.
But the following comment was an absolute blinder. Surely someone taking the piss? More » 
Top Gear Australia Appears To Be Changing Down Gears, Possibly On The Verge Of Stalling
2:39PM Jess McGuire | Last week I declared that the real indication of Top Gear Australia’s success would not be the fantastic ratings for the first episode, but rather how many viewers decided to bother tuning into the second episode. Given the general air of disappointment from viewers regarding the show in the letters section of the paper – and in our very own comments section from discerning readers who had watched the debut – I suspected there may be a drop in ratings due, and it seems I was right.
The second episode of motoring TV show Top Gear Australia has slumped in the ratings.
More » 
YouTube Clip Of The Day
1:00PM Jess McGuire | Reader Hannah sent this clip in. Some young lad has decided to get his Weird Al Yankovich on and parody Metro Station’s ‘Shake It’, cleverly changing the words and the meaning so his song, ‘Bake It’, is all about BAKING! Ha!
As one YouTube commenter said, “this is funny. but i think it would be better if the singing was good”. Indeed. But the star of the video himself is rather cute and expressive (I say that in a totally Bill Henson art kind of way, and not in a dirty twenty-something-drooling-over-a-teen sense) so, you know, give him a few years CREATIVELY SPEAKING NOT AS IN SEXY LAY-BY and hell, he may end up the next Andy Samberg.
Thanks, Hannah!
Isn’t it nice that in a world currently in the throes of a financial meltdown, here at Defamer Australia we just focus on the idiotic. We’ll always find time to direct our limited attention spans to sub par YouTube clips rather than soaking in information about economic crises affecting the entire globe so please – HELP US TO CONTINUE IGNORING REAL WORLD EVENTS OF IMPORTANCE BY SENDING IN SUGGESTIONS FOR CLIP OF THE DAY TO JESS AT DEFAMER.COM.AU! More » 
Attention Sony BMG: You Need To Make This Boy Band Happen
11:44AM Jess McGuire | The following image, probably pilfered from the Kylie messageboards and sent to me by my beloved gay Will, made me laugh heartily. And then, once the chuckles died down, realise that there is probably a lot more money to be made from Young Twinks than there is from Young Divas. I’ve no doubt that teenage girls, attracted to but not intimidated by The Virgin Three, would spend every single dollar they could find on CDs and merchandise. And then there’s the pink dollar to factor in!
Get on it, please. More » 
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Joins the ‘No On Prop 8′ Cause, Courtesy of Ellen (and Wanda Sykes)
10:30AM Kyle Buchanan | We’re not sure whether Julia Louis-Dreyfus is angling for a “guest actress on a talk show” Emmy that doesn’t exist, but she’s certainly put in game performances over the past week, whether she’s enlisting in the Letterman/McCain War or stealing from Tina Fey on the advice of a mischievous Conan O’Brien. Louis-Dreyfus’s latest target was The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and she smoothly changed promotional gears to talk about the newest storyline on her sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, which finds her character entering into a gay marriage with Wanda Sykes to help the latter stay in the country (even though immigration is a federal issue that California’s same-sex marriage laws can’t circumvent). Naturally, Ellen had a few Prop 8-related words to say on the subject — though, Ellen? Money talks, too. [The Ellen DeGeneres Show] More »Girls Aloud Tormented By Violent Blogger, Loved By Chris Martin
10:26AM Jess McGuire | Swings and roundabouts, people.
As you may have heard, Defamer Australia pop favourites Girls Aloud were recently the target of a rogue public servant turned blogger’s fantasies of violence. Oh no!
A civil servant is being prosecuted over an internet blog which detailed the kidnap, torture and murder of the pop group Girls Aloud. Darryn Walker, 35, of South Shields, South Tyneside, is accused of writing and posting the 12-page “Girls (Scream) Aloud” story on a fantasy porn site.
Urgh. Poor The Girls Aloud – “DO NOT WANT”, as they say on the internet.
However, if anything’s gonna give the ladies a wide and perfectly white smile after that revelation, it’s news that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin bloody loves them. More » 
Just Which Lonely Aussie Is This Spunky Spaniard Wooing?
9:03AM Jess McGuire | Look at that face on the left. Gorgeous, isn’t it? And to think, it’s allegedly laying the charm on an attractive but lonely Australian superstar! Who, you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you who it’s bloody not – Ian Thorpe! Because Thorpey is in love with a girl, dammit, and from what Ros Reines can figure out, she must live in LA. Good luck to you Thorpey! I support your love! Yay vagina!
But enough talk of the lovely straight gentle giant Ian Thorpe though, it’s time we discovered the single Australian our mystery handsome gent – his name is Andres Velencoso, by the way… sexy or what?! – is really wooing. Jump! More » 
