Homer Votes 2008
9:05 pm, November 1st, 2008 |
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Posted in comedy, girlthings, idiotbox, internets, roundups by Liz
Not good birthday news…
6:14 pm, October 30th, 2008 |
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Posted in geekery, girlthings, idiotbox, internets, roundups by Liz
Thanks (or no thanks) to ABC News
Doctor Who star David Tennant has announced he is quitting the hit science-fiction series.
Tennant, who has played the 10th incarnation of the Time Lord since 2005, says he will leave the role after completing production on the four special episodes to be screened in the UK in 2009.
“When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won’t be with me,” he told the National Television Awards.
“The 2009 shows will be my last playing the Doctor.
“I love this part and I love this show so much, and if I don’t take a deep breath and move on now I never will and you will be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair.”
There has been no word as to who will replace Tennant.
No fair :(
Sleepy thinking…
8:28 pm, October 5th, 2008 |
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Posted in geekery, girlthings, idiotbox, local by Liz
Sometimes, just sometimes, when the night air is still, the final planes are coming into land overhead and Jarod is snoring, it sounds like The Doctor* is landing his TARDIS in the lane below our bedroom window. Sometimes I even get momentarily excited before I remember it’s just a TV show.
*the David Tennant kind.
The Debut of Top Gear Australia
6:49 am, October 2nd, 2008 |
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Posted in boythings, idiotbox, local by Jarod
It was with a lot of cringing that Liz and I watched the (recorded) debut of Top Gear Australia last night. Now we’re pretty big fans of the original, so our main motivation in watching it was to see if the highly acclaimed and very successful template could be shoehorned into another market.
Enter Top Gear Australia. What appears to be a duplicate of the British version, minus Jeremy, Richard, James and million dollar european sports cars…. replaced with Charlie, Steve, Warren and a bunch of local Holden and Fords. Who are Charlie, Steve and Warren? Exactly!
Before the BBC version of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson had done a smattering of car related DVDs. This earnt him street cred when talking about things with four wheels. To the average viewer of Top Gear Australia (I’ll use myself as an case study) only one of the Australian presenters is known at all, and that was more for his cartoons than his ability behind a steering wheel (or in front of a tv camera).
All the boxes were ticked. There were crazy stunts in the form of a mini moke chucked into a shark feeding frenzy. A three way roadtest/comparison was done. Star in a reasonably priced Proton. The local car news. Single sports car review, which ended in the Australian Stig driving around a random aerodrome on a random track. But due to the lack of charisma brought to the table by the presenters, almost everything they said and did came off as trying too hard.
The fact that it wasn’t a complete trainwreck is promising. The presenters will surely loosen up in the next few episodes and start to work better together. I’ll tune in again for next week’s Holden vs Ford battle, but if it’s the same’ish thing again, it’ll most likely be the last episode I watch for a while.
What I’ve taken away from watching Monday night’s debut is that it proves that you can copy the set, slick graphics, format and even the cinematic style, but at the end of the day it’s the presenters that make the show. And they’ve got a steep uphill climb to win over the Australian audience… and all too little time to do it in.
It’s Survivor Time!
8:00 pm, September 25th, 2008 |
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Posted in boythings, idiotbox by Jarod
The only stupid reality show I get into is Survivor**. There. I said it.
Jeff Probst is hosting his millionth^^ season of Survivor and my three survivors in the sweep are going to kick ass. Despite two of them being the usual flirty girl types, and the dude I got is a lawyer.
Hmmm, maybe I won’t do so well after all, but it’s worth it to hear Jeff say “Previously… on Survivor” and “[Random Tribe], got nothing for ya, head back to camp”. Damn Jeff Probst is dreamy.
** And some seasons of the Amazing Race.
^^ Actually, it’s only the 17th, but that’s still a lot.
Lolympics
3:04 pm, August 9th, 2008 |
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Posted in girlthings, idiotbox, internets by Liz
Jarod and I didn’t stay up past midnight to watch the full olympic opening ceremony, but Tim Blair was paid to give his own blow by blow version on his blog, which is just as good, if not better.
Includes gems such as:
1.12am: The Australians are wearing tracksuits that look like they were designed for Ford racing pitcrews in the mid-90s.
and
Fun Fact! The Beijing National Stadium holds 90,000 people, but this will be reduced to 81,000 after the Olympics. And all the executions.
While watching some of the road bike race this afternoon, Jarod gave me the details of how people doing 6 hour bike rides do without bathroom stops. I will never look at cycling the same way again.
Hancock Movie Review
6:28 pm, August 6th, 2008 |
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Posted in boythings, idiotbox, mooovies by Jarod
Over the weekend Liz and I watched the movie Hancock. You know, the one where Wil Smith plays a drunken superhero guy? Yeah that one.
Apart from a bit in the middle section where Liz and I both turned to one another and did a bit of Rove’s ‘What the?’, it turned out to be quite a good blend of action and storyline. Once you could look past the obvious flaws in the ‘What the?’ moment, the fast paced action and well edited ending really sucked you in.
Also worth a special mention is the empathy the viewer feels for Hancock. Can’t say I often get sucked into this sort of kind of thing, but at times I wanted to jump into the screen and help poor Wil work stuff out.
In an arbitary and no doubt be a short lived feature on this blog…. Jarod gives Hancock seven hundred and twelve stars.
Oh Noes Cabel
10:40 am, July 27th, 2008 |
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Posted in bikes, boythings, idiotbox, photography by Jarod
There’s been a bunch of hype here in Australia surrounding Cadel Evans and his bid to win the 2008 Tour de France, but that’s to be expected really. It’s when the international media start jumping on board that you begin to get the feeling that he’s got half a chance.
Much like last year, he needed to make up one and a half minutes in the final time trial. He clawed back a bit of time, but unfortunately like last year it wasn’t enough to take the yellow jersey into the final day of riding.
To come second in this fashion once would’ve given him massive amounts of drive to train and train and train. But for it to happen a second time…. yeah…. watch out for Cadel at next year’s tour.
Big Brother’s Finale
5:43 pm, July 21st, 2008 |
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Posted in idiotbox by Jarod
Mark this day in your calendar, as it’s the end of an era. The 16-35 year old demographic which Big Brother targets are officially immune to the crazy** antics of two dozen caged house mates.
What’s most scary about this situation is that in order for Channel Ten to reincarnate Big Brother as a viable entity, they’ll be forced to make it even more obnoxious to the average Australian with a brain. I’m troubled and don’t understand how they’ll do this as Kyle and Jackie O are hosts already.
** stupid, idiotic and annoying-as-all-fuck are all equally insertable here.
Dear Mr. Robinson
4:58 pm, July 20th, 2008 |
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Posted in girlthings, idiotbox by Liz
I must admit I admire your vocal ability and dedication while refereeing NRL matches. I can always pick you as the referee, your distinctive way of yelling ‘mooooove’ when those big guys tackle the other big guys in different colours makes you stand out. See?
But, it also is a little obnoxious. I’m sure you’re getting your point across and they seem to move in time, but why do I never notice any other referee yelling move nearly as loudly as you? Actually, I only hear you say the word ‘move’, perhaps you could try a few other words?
I’ll keep listening while Jarod is watching ‘footy’, in the hope that you read the internet.
Sincerely,
Liz.
PS. As an aside, the first time I heard you I actually thought it was an over enthusiastic person that was a fan of neither team (or both teams), and thus yelled ‘Boooo!’ every time someone was tackled, which made me giggle until Jarod corrected me.
Black Gold
7:59 pm, July 13th, 2008 |
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Posted in boythings, idiotbox by Jarod
If Wipeout can be described as “loud-mouthed, obnoxious Americans running through an obstacle course and getting their ass handed to them” then Black Gold can be described as loud-mouthed, obnoxious American Rednecks running around Texas drilling holes in the ground/getting drunk/hurting themselves.
Created by the same team and based on the same format as Deadliest Catch, Black Gold follows three crews of ‘Roughnecks‘ as they compete to drill 3 oil wells in 50 days. What follows is a fairly insightful reality tv look at the way that oil drilling rigs operate.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a good bit of reality TV, but Black Gold can go just a little bit over the top at times. The immense cost of running one of these drilling rigs is more than incentive enough to work fast and get things done quickly. So I don’t understand why the producers felt the need to cheese it up and pit the three crews against each other to see who was winning. One can only suggest their target audience needed a bit more incentive to watch other than the sheer economics of what was being presented before them.
Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be screening on Australian TV as yet, but look for it on your favourite internet or a boring Channel Ten Saturday night soon. Very much worth a look to see the reality of where your petrol comes from. Oh, and it’s good for a laugh at crazy oil drilling redneck’s expense.