Mr and Mrs Edelsten

Unless you've been living in a cave you will have heard about the abomination that is the Goeffrey Edelsten and Brynne Gordon wedding. Supposedly it was the "social event of the year" for Melbourne - suggesting that the rest of the year must have been filled entirely with letter openings and high-school formals.

The Herald Sun has a front page pic above the banner today and the write-up made page 5. The Age put some pics on the back page in the Melbourne Life section and the commercial news programs are obviously having a field day with it.

So who the hell cares if some old gheezer with loads of cash marries his "work in progress" little lady in a lavish affair at the Crown casino? Few people had even heard of Mr Edelsten before the Brownlow ceremony this year, and those that had wished they could forget. And no one would ever have heard of Brynne Gordon if she hadn't stumbled across a horny old man and decided that sleeping with him was worth the millions of dollars he'd leave to her when he kicked the bucket in the not-too-distant-future.

Am I being nasty? Oh, they're getting their guests to give money to charity in lieu of gifts you say? Well going by the B-grade celeb guest list I'm not sure they'll be making anywhere near the 3 million it cost them to put on the bourgeois affair. I doubt that ex-Big-Brother-contestants and Neighbours stars will be emptying their pockets for charity - the donation basket was probably filled with autographed, glossy 8x10s rather than $100 bills.

When events like this become news I'm reminded of something a lecturer told me once; If all of the world were annihilated and just one newspaper/news program was recovered by aliens, what would they think of us as a human race?

An even more scary thought occured to me after seeing the new "disaster film to end all disaster films" 2010 - if you haven't seen it, there are ships that have been built to survive the end of the world and a ticket on the ship costs 1 billion dollars. It's scary because it's people like Mr and Mrs Edelsten that would be boarding that Contiki World-End Tour and *shudder* re-populating the world.

You want more evidence that the Edelsten couple should de-throne Bec and Lleyton Hewitt as King and Queen of the Bogans on the brilliant Things Bogans Like blog? Geoff is planning on opening a luxury "nip/tuck clinic" in ... wait for it ... Caroline Springs.

There, I said it. Bogans. Grade-A, sell-their-mother-for-a-bundy-and-coke Bogans. Should Bogans not celebrate their nuptuals in any way they please? I hear you ask. Well, yes, I suppose they can - but I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT AND IT ISN'T NEWS.

Enough. Now what's all this about a shit-fight in the Liberal Party and Tony Abbott wearing rocket-poppers?

(My apologies in advance for that last link - do not open if you have a weak stomach.)

MAUVYRN3HF92

Changes for 2010

It's the end of the year and both radio and tv stations are making changes. As we know, Rove will not be returning next year, or ever, on channel 10. Surprisingly Australian Idol will be coming back in 2010 despite bad ratings this year (though the finale last night was a ratings winner), along with the 7pm Project which will be aired twice a day over summer - with a repeat after the late news.

Channel 7 have a call-out for contestants for another series of Beauty and the Geek. The Einstein Factor and Sunday Arts are finishing up on the ABC. Media Watch will be back next year with Jonathan Holmes at the helm and Review with Myles Barlow has been funded for a second series.

On radio, the big news today is that Robbie, Marieke and the Doctor are finishing up this year as Triple J breakfast hosts. They will be replaced by the weekend hosts Tom and Alex. Tim Ross and Kate Ritchie are leaving their Nova 969 breakfast show - ending the long performance relationship between Merrick and Rosso. More locally, the Triple R breakfast show will be losing Sam Pang who is currently hosting the music quiz show ADBC on SBS.  

She Sings the Verses

I think it was the Pushover music festival in 1996 when I first saw Ella Hooper. Her voice had a rich, creamy thickness to it that stopped me in my tracks. I was actually on my way from the first aid tent where my friend's sprained ankle was being attended to. I was supposed to be getting a drink for said friend - but I had to listen to Killing Heidi's set before I could peel my converse from the sticky floor.

I have one of the orange Killing Heidi t-shirts from that year with a little space-girl on it - I found it again a little while ago. Needless to say, I am a fan of Killing Heidi, Ella Hooper and the Hoopers in general - so it was a delight, about a year ago, when Ella and brother Jesse started playing gigs around town as The Verses.

Today their four track, self-titled EP was released on iTunes. Ella's voice is still perfectly wonderful. If you're a fan of KH beware; The Verses have a delicious country sensibility - far removed from the rock sounds of KH. That being said, listening to The Verses may just give you the uncontrollable urge to buy a beat-up convertible and head on out to the open road - for a long drive to nowhere in particular.

The single "Forever More" oozes Fleetwood Mac - very apt seeing as The Verses will be supporting the Mac on their upcoming Australian tour. The intro has heavy drums and breathy vocals and the chorus has some kick-ass vocal harmonies that give it that 70's layered richness that the Mac are so famous for.

I really dig these four tracks, especially the first one "Everything at Once". I should also point out that I don't usually like country music - so don't let that deter you.

The Verses are going to be on high rotation at my place this summer. 

White + Bogans = White Bogans

For a long time now, the Stuff White People Like blog has been a favourite of mine. It is written by the brilliantly witty Christian Lander and talks about - you guessed it - stuff white people like. It is outrageously funny - but I haven't blogged it because it's not Australian, and I like to stick to Aussie media on this here site.  Speaking of, here's Christian Lander talking about his blog, and now book, on Melbourne's Triple R breakfast show a few months ago.

So why am I blogging about it? Well, Stuff White People Like seems to have spawned an Australiana themed blog that is equally hilarious. And so it is time to share with you; Things Bogans Like.

Beginning with the explanation of the prototypical Bogan (Bec and Lleyton Hewitt - of course) it has since given a daily insight into the eccentricities of your garden-variety Australian Bogan. Highlights include #2 - Buddhist Iconography as Home Furnishings and #6 - Prefacing Racist Statements with 'I'm not racist but ...'.

It's only up to #22 so it's a great time to jump on board and get your daily fix of funny. The facebook  page already has 1,835 fans and from the comments section both the Bogans and non-Bogans are embracing the site.

Not so Good Charlotte

Well the Madden boys of Good Charlotte fame are in town this week and have discovered a none too well kept Australian secret; Jo Stanley is utterly intolerable.

The boys were at Fox 101.9 this morning for an interview on the Matt & Jo show and weren't too impressed with the line of questioning. After walking out on the show Joel tweeted;

Most of the time I can put up with idiot morning show hosts but not today. I guess I have finally found some Aussies I don't get on with. 

It's okay Joel - we all feel the same way.

It's OK! not to have the goss.

This morning I happened upon the editor of OK! magazine Claire Isaac doing a spot on 9am with David and Kim (channel 10).

Isaac was discussing the latest edition of the mag which features a one on one interview with Kyle Sandilands at home with his wife. She was saying what a lovely, kind-hearted person he is (vomit) and that he had just got back from the US.

She said that he spends a lot of time in the US because his wife Tamara has work over there ... umm ... according to The Daily Telegraph, Kyle himself is actually doing a TV show in the US with Brian McFadden - a simple Google search could have told her that - here's the story. Of course, that news broke after the magazine story was written so obviously Isaac can't be expected to know about it! Who researches a person they're going on national television to talk about? Ludicrous!

I would have thought The Daily Telegraph and OK! magazine would be good friends seeing as they both spin absolute crap.

Not so Good Game

A furor has erupted over the ousting of ABC's Good Game co-host Jeremy Ray, known as "Junglist" (above left). He was given his walking papers last month from the host position and has this week had a fair bit to say about the reasons for the axing.

According to him, he was given the boot because ABC execs. wanted a female co-host to gain "mass appeal". However the ABC has stated "performance-based" reasons for the parting of ways.

Articles on online news websites have had hundreds of comments supporting Junglist and questioning his replacement. The young, attractive blonde Stephanie Bendixsen (Hex) co-hosted her first episode last Monday with founding host Steven O'Donnell (Bajo). 

Here is the official statement on the Good Game forums.

Comments on the official forum and the news site are suggesting that the producers have replaced Junglist with an attractive girl in an attempt to gain a new audience. I think this comment on news.com.au says it all;

Hex did an okay job of presenting on Monday's episode but she doesn't have anywhere near the gaming experience, interest or skill as Junglist. Another disconcerting aspect to her performance is the way she looks at the camera (screen shot from Monday's show);

Someone has their "sexy" face on. She is certainly an attractive young girl and it's unfortunate for her that she has entered the hosting position on such negative terms. The die-hard Good Game fans don't seem to be ready to give her a chance if the forums and Facebook groups mean anything. There's even an online petition to return Junglist to the show.

Here's a comment from the official Good Game Facebook page yesterday;

It will be interesting to see if anything comes of the petitions and web-campaigns, after all, we saw the power of the Facebook group with the return of Hey Hey it's Saturday.