Wednesday, January 28, 2009
People
6:15PM Jess McGuire | Did you know… that Barack Obama had the Dalai Lama’s scarf in his pocket when he was sworn in as President of the United States of America? Don’t worry, he didn’t steal it during a visit to the Dalai Lama’s house or anything… OR DID HE?
No, he didn’t. Here’s what happened.
Richard Blum lives in San Francisco and is a Special Envoy to Nepal. He has been a Tibet supporter for many years. Richard was up on the platform during the swearing in ceremony of Barack Obama and had a role as escort for the First Lady.
His wife is California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who introduced Barack Obama at the inauguration. She is also a longtime supporter of Tibet.
Before the inauguration, Richard told Barack Obama that he had with him a white khata – a silk Tibetan scarf – given to him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Blum described what happened next in an email to Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama’s Speial Envoy:
“I offered it to President Obama before the ceremony. I said that I could get it delivered to him later. He said, no, that he was going to take it and have it with him; in fact, it was in his pocket when he was sworn-in.”
MORE: Obama Had The Dalai Lama’s Scarf In His Pocket During Swearing In
(Thanks for the heads up – and the post title – Angie!) More »
Obama-Lama!
6:15PM Jess McGuire | Did you know… that Barack Obama had the Dalai Lama’s scarf in his pocket when he was sworn in as President of the United States of America? Don’t worry, he didn’t steal it during a visit to the Dalai Lama’s house or anything… OR DID HE?
No, he didn’t. Here’s what happened.
Richard Blum lives in San Francisco and is a Special Envoy to Nepal. He has been a Tibet supporter for many years. Richard was up on the platform during the swearing in ceremony of Barack Obama and had a role as escort for the First Lady.
His wife is California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who introduced Barack Obama at the inauguration. She is also a longtime supporter of Tibet.
Before the inauguration, Richard told Barack Obama that he had with him a white khata – a silk Tibetan scarf – given to him by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Blum described what happened next in an email to Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama’s Speial Envoy:
“I offered it to President Obama before the ceremony. I said that I could get it delivered to him later. He said, no, that he was going to take it and have it with him; in fact, it was in his pocket when he was sworn-in.”
MORE: Obama Had The Dalai Lama’s Scarf In His Pocket During Swearing In
(Thanks for the heads up – and the post title – Angie!) More » 
Flotsam & Jetsam
3:10PM Jess McGuire | Via today’s Crikey newsletter, which says:
There’s a moment in Proust when he relates the experience of discovering through a sudden, illuminating fragment of conversation, that the person with whom you’re talking, someone you’d assumed was perfectly civilized, intelligent and rational, is in fact quite and utterly, mad.
Peter Costello produced just such a moment of revelation in his address to the Catch the Fire prayer rally in Melbourne on Monday. Delivered by video, the man who for so long craved the Australian Prime Ministership, declares his firm belief that the Bible and the Ten Commandments form the foundation of Australian society and its property laws, and that any movement away from those “God-given commandments” will lead to a breakdown of social order. “As we look back over hundreds of years of Australian history, we can still see the benefits of God to us in this country,” says Costello, presumably surprising indigenous Australians, whose ancestors were here a damn sight longer.
Declaring one’s Christian faith is one thing. Arguing that only the maintenance of Christianity preserves order, directly implying that those of other faiths, or its complete atheistic absence, are a threat to that order, is an extraordinary statement from a major political figure in an allegedly secular state.
John Howard blocked Peter Costello from the Prime Ministership as long as he could, preferring even to take his party to defeat rather than let him run it. Based on this bizarre rant, it looks like Howard’s judgement was absolutely right.
Right on, Crikey! You go, girl!
Watch the video after the jump. More »
Peter Costello’s Special Australia Day Message
3:10PM Jess McGuire | Via today’s Crikey newsletter, which says:
There’s a moment in Proust when he relates the experience of discovering through a sudden, illuminating fragment of conversation, that the person with whom you’re talking, someone you’d assumed was perfectly civilized, intelligent and rational, is in fact quite and utterly, mad.
Peter Costello produced just such a moment of revelation in his address to the Catch the Fire prayer rally in Melbourne on Monday. Delivered by video, the man who for so long craved the Australian Prime Ministership, declares his firm belief that the Bible and the Ten Commandments form the foundation of Australian society and its property laws, and that any movement away from those “God-given commandments” will lead to a breakdown of social order. “As we look back over hundreds of years of Australian history, we can still see the benefits of God to us in this country,” says Costello, presumably surprising indigenous Australians, whose ancestors were here a damn sight longer.
Declaring one’s Christian faith is one thing. Arguing that only the maintenance of Christianity preserves order, directly implying that those of other faiths, or its complete atheistic absence, are a threat to that order, is an extraordinary statement from a major political figure in an allegedly secular state.
John Howard blocked Peter Costello from the Prime Ministership as long as he could, preferring even to take his party to defeat rather than let him run it. Based on this bizarre rant, it looks like Howard’s judgement was absolutely right.
Right on, Crikey! You go, girl!
Watch the video after the jump. More »
People
2:12PM Jess McGuire | Less than a year since Tania Zaetta was first rumoured to have entertained the troops in Afghanistan with more than just some songs from Bollywood movies (all lies, of course), the former Who Dares Wins presenter has been asked to come back and try again! Try singing again, I mean – not rutting the soldiers.
Entertainer Tania Zaetta has been told she’s welcome to sing for Australian troops again after the Defence Department apologised for implicating her in a sex scandal.
Defence announced today that it had finished mending fences with Ms Zaetta over the claims, which were contained in an internal briefing.
The best bit about the entire story is the picture which accompanies the article. More »
Tania Zaetta Has Been Invited Back To Afghanistan!
2:12PM Jess McGuire | Less than a year since Tania Zaetta was first rumoured to have entertained the troops in Afghanistan with more than just some songs from Bollywood movies (all lies, of course), the former Who Dares Wins presenter has been asked to come back and try again! Try singing again, I mean – not rutting the soldiers.
Entertainer Tania Zaetta has been told she’s welcome to sing for Australian troops again after the Defence Department apologised for implicating her in a sex scandal.
Defence announced today that it had finished mending fences with Ms Zaetta over the claims, which were contained in an internal briefing.
The best bit about the entire story is the picture which accompanies the article. More » 
Competition: Someone’s Actually Going To See Bride Wars
2:07PM Kym Weathersten | We asked you to bitch about a bridezilla, and bitch you most certainly did.
Congratulations to Anita, Kay, Bel, Zoe, Kristen, Nicole, Dave, Kirsty and Faith, whose brushes with the beast-in-white have landed each of them a double pass to the 20th Century Fox film, Bride Wars. To those who weren’t interesting enough didn’t win… you’ll have to pay for your own passes. Sorry. Better luck next time.
More »
Radio
1:15PM Jess McGuire | Even though Kyle Sandilands sort of won me over a tiny bit last year during Australian Idol (I still feel dirty about it, trust me), I was nevertheless delighted to read about a South African radio DJ who successfully pranked him and his radio co-host Jackie O recently.
A South African disc jockey has pulled off one of the all-time great practical jokes this morning after tricking a top-rating breakfast radio duo into taking a fake call from Tom Cruise.
Hmmm. Some slight hyperbole there, but okay. Let’s pretend that this story is about one of the all-time great practical jokes being executed successfully against Kyle and Jackie O during their hit breakfast show.
Go on… More »
Kyle And Jackie O Have A South African Nemesis
1:15PM Jess McGuire | Even though Kyle Sandilands sort of won me over a tiny bit last year during Australian Idol (I still feel dirty about it, trust me), I was nevertheless delighted to read about a South African radio DJ who successfully pranked him and his radio co-host Jackie O recently.
A South African disc jockey has pulled off one of the all-time great practical jokes this morning after tricking a top-rating breakfast radio duo into taking a fake call from Tom Cruise.
Hmmm. Some slight hyperbole there, but okay. Let’s pretend that this story is about one of the all-time great practical jokes being executed successfully against Kyle and Jackie O during their hit breakfast show.
Go on… More »
Music
12:34PM Jess McGuire | Kylie fans rejoice, for the pop diva will soon be releasing some new material! Well, she’ll be appearing on a new song at the very least – and it’s a track from Australian children’s entertainers The Wiggles. No, really!
Kylie wants to prove herself to two-year-old nephew Charles, son of her cameraman brother Brendan, who worships The Wiggles. She stars on their new track Monkey Man, from upcoming album The Wiggles Go Bananas.
Monkey Man sounds like a great name for a Kylie tune! I do hope it has a fine beat which encourages jiving like an idiot.
And Kylie might even go on tour with The Wiggles, or at least that’s what The Sun is claiming she’s said.
Kylie said: “Now Charles really will think I’m cool. I hope he likes the song. It was fun to do. I might even grab a shirt and go on tour with the boys. I’m not sure what colour I will be.”
Pink, obviously?!
MORE: Cheesy hook-up is Kylie suspect More »
Kylie Collaborates With The Wiggles
12:34PM Jess McGuire | Kylie fans rejoice, for the pop diva will soon be releasing some new material! Well, she’ll be appearing on a new song at the very least – and it’s a track from Australian children’s entertainers The Wiggles. No, really!
Kylie wants to prove herself to two-year-old nephew Charles, son of her cameraman brother Brendan, who worships The Wiggles. She stars on their new track Monkey Man, from upcoming album The Wiggles Go Bananas.
Monkey Man sounds like a great name for a Kylie tune! I do hope it has a fine beat which encourages jiving like an idiot.
And Kylie might even go on tour with The Wiggles, or at least that’s what The Sun is claiming she’s said.
Kylie said: “Now Charles really will think I’m cool. I hope he likes the song. It was fun to do. I might even grab a shirt and go on tour with the boys. I’m not sure what colour I will be.”
Pink, obviously?!
MORE: Cheesy hook-up is Kylie suspect More »
People
11:02AM Jess McGuire | Alright, I promised you earlier this morning that I would investigate why the country’s newspapers are getting all excited about the fact Ian Thorpe has a Brazilian housemate named Daniel, and I am a woman of my word.
Here are the highlights from the Daily Telegraph’s report on Thorpie’s ’s home life.
· Ian Thorpe’s housemate is a Brazilian swimmer named Daniel Mendes.
· Daniel is described as “more slightly built” than Ian.
· Ian Thorpe’s former coach Tracey Menzies set them up (to become friends).
· According to the Telegraph, the pair became training buddies before their friendship developed… into more friendship.
More »
Investigating Ian Thorpe’s Relationship With His Brazilian Housemate
11:02AM Jess McGuire | Alright, I promised you earlier this morning that I would investigate why the country’s newspapers are getting all excited about the fact Ian Thorpe has a Brazilian housemate named Daniel, and I am a woman of my word.
Here are the highlights from the Daily Telegraph’s report on Thorpie’s ’s home life.
· Ian Thorpe’s housemate is a Brazilian swimmer named Daniel Mendes.
· Daniel is described as “more slightly built” than Ian.
· Ian Thorpe’s former coach Tracey Menzies set them up (to become friends).
· According to the Telegraph, the pair became training buddies before their friendship developed… into more friendship.
More »
Music
10:15AM Jess McGuire | This mashup from DJ Earworm is incredible, and although I suppose there’d be some Tom Petty fans out there who may not be overly pleased with it, I can assure you they are WRONG and this is brilliant.
It’s Beyonce’s If I Were A Boy mixed with Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’, although it sounds more like a collaboration than a mashup if you ask me. It makes me very happy and you can download an mp3 of it for nothing from DJ Earworm’s site. That’s right, FREE!
This dude is a genius. I wish I knew how his brain worked.
MORE: DJ Earworm official site More »
DJ Earworm – “If I Were A Free Fallin’ Boy”
10:15AM Jess McGuire | This mashup from DJ Earworm is incredible, and although I suppose there’d be some Tom Petty fans out there who may not be overly pleased with it, I can assure you they are WRONG and this is brilliant.
It’s Beyonce’s If I Were A Boy mixed with Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’, although it sounds more like a collaboration than a mashup if you ask me. It makes me very happy and you can download an mp3 of it for nothing from DJ Earworm’s site. That’s right, FREE!
This dude is a genius. I wish I knew how his brain worked.
MORE: DJ Earworm official site More »
Flotsam & Jetsam
9:36AM Jess McGuire | Alright, the background of today’s clip (according to the YouTube user) is as follows.
Interview with Norwegian popstar Bertine Zetlitz under extreme conditions. Journalists must be able to interview people in very stressing enviroments (war etc). So they test this guys interviewing skills by distracting him. She’s basically just being asked questions about her music career.
Basically, people are doing things to the interviewer’s doodle.
I would like to see this happen on Rove, please. Or possibly The 7.30 Report. More »
YouTube Clip Of The Day
9:36AM Jess McGuire | Alright, the background of today’s clip (according to the YouTube user) is as follows.
Interview with Norwegian popstar Bertine Zetlitz under extreme conditions. Journalists must be able to interview people in very stressing enviroments (war etc). So they test this guys interviewing skills by distracting him. She’s basically just being asked questions about her music career.
Basically, people are doing things to the interviewer’s doodle.
I would like to see this happen on Rove, please. Or possibly The 7.30 Report. More »
People
8:46AM Jess McGuire | Because I am really confused by the front page of the Daily Telegraph’s website.
I don’t recall them making a big deal about the housemates of other celebrities, except for maybe that nice hockey player who lived with Deborah Hutton for seven years.
What gives? I’m almost too nervous to read the article itself, but I will just for you. If it contains anything interesting (and I doubt it, what could be interesting about Ian Thorpe having a nice friend who lives with him?!), I’ll get back to you and we’ll discuss it further.
More »
Are They Hinting At Something To Do With Ian Thorpe’s Private Life?
8:46AM Jess McGuire | Because I am really confused by the front page of the Daily Telegraph’s website.
I don’t recall them making a big deal about the housemates of other celebrities, except for maybe that nice hockey player who lived with Deborah Hutton for seven years.
What gives? I’m almost too nervous to read the article itself, but I will just for you. If it contains anything interesting (and I doubt it, what could be interesting about Ian Thorpe having a nice friend who lives with him?!), I’ll get back to you and we’ll discuss it further.
More » 