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.

Hey Hey the Verdict

Yes, I sat through the whole THREE hours of it. I did have aspirin and booze at the ready but surprisingly didn't use it - though it wasn't a completely pain-free experience.

Here's the run-down.

Unfortunately for everyone Darryl insisted on dancing AND singing and on telling his usual bad jokes. Besides that though - there were definitely some good moments, and there were some epic fails too. (If there was one person that didn't change channels during "Red Faces" I want to meet that person - and have them commited).

After Darryl's intro where he stated that Hey Hey really wanted to showcase young, new Australian talent - he introduced Jimmy Barnes. Twitter was instantly abuzz with people saying they were expecting John Farnham, and lo and behold, after the ad break Darryl announced that Farnsy would indeed be on the show later. Farnsy was, however, in the middle of a concert in Queensland so Darryl spent the last hour of the show stalling a live cross so that he could say hi to John between songs.

Speaking of Twitter, within 10 minutes of the show being on air #heyhey was a trending topic. By the second ad break it was number 1. Of course the second ad break was not far from the first, or the third, or the many to follow - I think the show might actually have fit into a one hour special were it not for the constant breaks.

Hey Hey tried to show that it had moved with the times by mentioning the infamous Facebook group that started this whole debacle and an email address for people to send their well wishes. In fact, someone was "unbeknownst to channel 9" illegally streaming the show on the internet which interestingly allowed Darryl to cross live to a woman in Michigan, USA - but it wasn't planned of course and nobody knew those naughty scamps would be streaming *wink wink*.

The show stuck to tradition by having b-grade celebs for the segments - the puffin-muffin girl (from the iSelect health insurance ads) was one third of the panel for "Celebrity Head" and pop-singer Cassie Davis (Cassie who? I hear you say) was a judge on Red Faces.

The hot competition for the night, Masterchef, had been mentioned three times in the first half hour - it was as if they were daring people to switch over. Even worse, there was a skit by Russell Gilbert called "Disaster Chef" that was painfully unfunny. In fact, Russell was as bad as he ever was - with his toilet humour and outdated jokes, his gags went down like a kebab-caravan-6am-special.

Particularly awkward moments (besides every second Russell Gilbert was on screen)? The "Great Aussie Joke" segment was a jaw-dropping affair. It seems the folk at channel 9 decided to bring Maurie Fields (who died in 1995) back from the dead without advising the viewers. It was an awkward moment of father/son joke telling with Maurie's son Marty sitting beside his father thanks to some fancy graphics (a la Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole in the "Unforgettable" video clip). It might have actually been a good segment were it not for the fact that Maurie passed away so very long ago and many viewers nowadays (watching for the first time) would have no idea who he was.

Livinia Nixon should stick to weather. She's a lovely girl but has nothing interesting to say - and she did encourage Darryl to dance - which I'm pretty sure is a chargeable offence.

There had to be a major fashion faux pa and that award goes to Cassie Davis and the badly-ripped-jeans. It seems she was channelling a fashion tragedy from the last time Hey Hey was on tv.

Highlights? There were a few. John Farnham singing "Freedom" - I know, it's horribly daggy of me but I just love him, I can't help it. I've always loved him. I've got "Whispering Jack" on vinyl okay? There, I said it. Judge me as you will.

Molly's Melodrama was definitely a highlight. Molly is a national treasure in my opinion and watching him bluff his way through his segment it was as if he'd never left the studio. John Blackman is as quick-witted as ever and he and Molly bounced off each other well. In fact, Molly was all over tv tonight - also starring on the panel of ABC music quiz show Spicks and Specks at 8:30pm.

Speaking of national treasures, Brian Nankervis as beat poet Raymond J. Bartholomew was simply brilliant (currently on Rockwiz on SBS). It was the first laugh-out-loud moment of the evening for me - how does Brian Nankervis not have his own tv show?

Perhaps because I had such low expectations, I could say that all in all it was a pleasant few hours of nostalgia - but it was really as if the show had never been off the air. To be honest, I don't care if they bring it back as a weekly show, because it can only mean that channel 9 will program less Two and a Half Men.

Chas Licciardello from The Chaser said it best on Twitter;

Social Media Etiquette

With the growing popularity of social networking sights like Facebook and Twitter - has the telephone become redundant? Why would you make a phone call to invite a few friends to dinner when you can post an update on your Facebook - saving you time, and the cost of the calls? We are now learning to communicate on a wholly different level to what we're used to and the rules of social networking have not yet been set in stone.

This got me thinking about what is acceptable behavior in social media. We all remember when SMS became popular and the old 'text breakup' was the ultimate in rejection. It seemed that not calling was better than "lets hve a brk ?" but since then text has pretty much morphed into an acceptable form of communication.

With online social networking being so new, the rules are a bit blurry. So what is and isn't acceptable? Here are just a few random observations I've made;

First of all - having a fight with someone on a status update is a big no. You know the one, where someone advises that they're upset, or insinuates another person in their unhappiness, and then that other person goes in for the kill to defend themselves. Whilst it's generally entertaining for the rest of us - it's also 'web-awkward' - in that you don't know whether to discuss said update with the person the next time you see them or, even worse, you commented on the update before the shit-fight started and are now inadvertently part of it.

Advising your family and friends of massive life changes on Facebook or Twitter is not kosher. Something like "mully just booked a three week trip to hawaii for next month!" is absolutely fine, whereas "mully will no longer be female as of next week - anyone up for a hospital run?" is not fine. Notifications like the latter might be acceptable for acquaintances, but close friends and family might need a phone call.

The next social networking faux pa is excessive introspection. No one needs to know every tiny little detail of your complex psyche. Of course, there's a fine line with this one - something like "mully wonders why humans are so shitty" is seemingly acceptable right? - but a series of updates following it containing details of said confusion and insinuations of depression at said lack of faith in humanity is boooooring. Phone a friend.

On the flip-side of this one is the "my life is f#cking awesome and you are so jealous" update. Whilst it's generally heart-warming to know your friends are doing well and are blissfully happy - after 17 updates in a row stating wealth, health and happiness - even the best of us have the potential to crumble into green-eyed-monsters.

Mind you, a bit of self-reflection and bragging is completely wonderful and interesting - but there's a fine line.

Then there's the profile pic. The semi-naked, suggestive pose is not acceptable under any circumstance - save those ones for Picture magazine. A good gauge of what is acceptable is considering whether your grandmother would be happy to put the picture on her bedside table (assuming her cataracts aren't too advanced).

And whilst we're on the topic of pics - it's not generally kosher to put a picture of yourself with someone else's partner as your profile. Unless you know the partner, and know that they're fine with it - leave that shit alone, lest you have a psychotic girlfriend/boyfriend stalk you and tear out your vital organs.

Posting pictures where you look fantastic but the other person looks like a troll is almost acceptable. But do you tag them? By tagging them it means that whenever they request 'friend' status with someone, that someone can see the horrific pictures. If someone tags you in a picture you don't like, you can un-tag yourself so it won't be linked to your profile ... but it will still be out there ... in infinite cyberspace. On the other hand, tagging them might be doing them a favour in that they're at least aware that the picture is out there ... somewhere.

You see, even in trying to outline some basic rules there are snags. That all being said, if an update is funny, it's generally forgiven all of the above.

So what do you think? Do you disagree? What do you love/hate about social media?

* please note, it could be the Gen X in me that makes me overly cautious about this newfangled "social" internet (- and of assuming people are interested in me or want to be my friend).
After all, we have been called the generation of underachievers - wink.

Australian Web Use

I've been enthralled by this amazing site (found via Mumbrella) following the history of Australian use of the internet since 2001 - click on the pic below to check it out.
The most interesting bubble of course is Facebook and the rise and rise of social networking. Also interesting are the changing trends of search and government sites and the reminders of what was once the "next big thing" ... *waves to myspace*.

Hey Hey it's a Slow News Day

A young friend of mine joined a Facebook group last week titled "Bring back Hey Hey it's Saturday" and I thought; I'll leave the gorgeous dear alone, after all, she's 16 and couldn't possibly know the pain and trauma an act like that might reckon on the world.

Cut to this morning when another friend sent me a link to this article - and I can be silent no more!

Hey Hey it's Saturday was an evening variety show featuring comedy, music and celeb interviews. Here's an idea: replace Rove McManus with Daryl Somers, Dave Hughes with Dicky Knee and Pete Hellier with Ozzie Ostrich. Put Ryan Shelton in a duck suit and have him throw raw chickens at the audience and you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. The "Red Faces" segment is basically Australia's Got Talent (including Red Symons) and you can "spin and win" on Mornings with Kerri-Anne.

Hey Hey it's Saturday did showcase Australian music talent ... as does Rockwiz ... and it did give young comedians a chance to strut their stuff ... as does Thank God You're Here ...

So we've got it all covered, ok?! No need to bring Daryl back. I think comment 70 summed it up;
Where's the "Bring back Enough Rope" Facebook group or the "Give Brian Nankervis his own Show" Facebook group? Surely these are more worthy causes.

The whole 'group' and 'fan' thing on Facebook is altogether annoying. It distresses me that the article is suggesting the people who join these Facebook groups are actually conscientious supporters of whatever the stupid thing is that they're clicking on. Most people would have joined the Hey Hey group as a laugh - if we locked them in a room for four hours and made them watch reruns I think the outcome would most likely involve a violent rampage, horse tranquilizers and damaged property.

And another thing ...

If the article is about the power of social media, why didn't the author elaborate on the mention of the campaign to bring back the "chips"? Could it be because it wasn't Facebook - it was that old-fashioned medium of radio that succeeded in the reintroduction of the savoury snack Toobs. Hamish and Andy had a segment on their drive time show on Fox where they asked people what product they would like to see return - there was an overwhelming response about Toobs - so they helped lobby Smiths Snackfood Company and Toobs were reintroduced to supermarket shelves.

It seems bored consumers had the power to lobby organisations and make change before the wonders of Facebook.

Shocking, but true.