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Thursday 30 October 2014

Nova Peris Address to Senate

The address by Senator Nova Peris to the Senate just took place. And it was powerful and kinda gripping.

Did you watch?


Much was said, and a transcript is to come.


These very powerful, emotionally-charged words were delivered by Nova right at the end:



"There are three things guaranteed in life:

We will all die at some stage.

Each day the sun will set.

And it will rise again tomorrow. Today is just one of those days."

What did you think of it all?

More of the speech. Senator Peris said:


"I categorically reject any wrongdoing. I have done nothing wrong.


"It pains me to talk about my private life, but the publication of these emails is part of a long-running, and very difficult child-access and financial estate dispute."


Senator Peris would yesterday neither confirm nor deny the emails were authentic, saying they were private and “it appears they were not lawfully obtained by a third party”.
She denied any wrongdoing but refused to answer further questions about the funding allegations or racial comments.
Senator Nova Peris made this emotional statement in response to her alleged affair with fellow Olympian, Trinidadian sprinter Ato Boldon.
The Labor senator  also asked federal police to investigate the leaking of private emails that led to allegations she sought taxpayer funding for her 'secret lover', and sent him ­racially charged emails claiming white Australians “hate black people”.
Email excerpts published by the NT News (read the full, original story here) contain claims that “white people hate black people in this country” and “white men can’t control black women they think they can but can’t”.
Addressing the allegations that Peris referred to Cathy Freeman as "so, so dumb", she responded:
"I have spoken in person to Cathy Freeman. Our friendship remains strong, and we will continue to support each other."

Kim and Kanye: whatwouldyeezuswear.tumblr.com



It's the Tumblr people are talking about: http://whatwouldyeezuswear.tumblr.com

And on Insty here: http://instagram.com/what_would_yeezus_wear

Two friends - Kathleen Lee and Katie Burroughs - decided they wanted those paparazzi style shots. And who to be inspired from? Kim and Kanye. Of course. Watch their clothing and character swap:



Wednesday 29 October 2014

'Supervenus' by Frédéric Doazan: VIDEO

In this new short movie by Frédéric Doazan, one of the best short of the Brussels Short Film Festival, a plastic surgeon creates - in real time - the 'new goddess of beauty'.

It certainly makes you look for ways to make you think about the standards of beauty, and all that a woman is made to achieve them, inviting us to rethink the ideal of a perfect body.

Watch:





Sunday 26 October 2014

'Once My Mother': ABC TV Screening

'Once My Mother': I blogged about this Australian movie over on my other blog page, called 'Our Sandwich Generation', because the moment I was told about it, it touched a raw nerve. It's about a mother and daughter's journey through life and dementia.

When I blogged about it at the time, it was on the eve of my mother's trip to hospital - she never returned home from that trip, although I had no idea that would be the case at the time. Sadly, she died three weeks later.

I think back to the person I was then and can barely breathe… they were vastly different times, although it was the 'me' I was living only two months ago.

No, I thought my beloved mother and I would still be doing the daily dance of dealing with her dementia as best we could.

One of my mum's carers, who became my friend (they all did, they were from HammondCare, and they were all incredible) said to me not long after mum's death: "Your mother's dementia will never advance from that point, when she died." The words jolted and jarred on me a little, but it was the truth. My beloved mother's beautiful brain would the same it was in August 15. I would be no better and no worse. Her dementia would never be any more difficult or easy. That was it. It had reached its finite point. The end.

Back to the movie. Here are what the (incredibly well-known Australian filmmaker) critics are saying:

“An epic story of survival told against a backdrop of war and its aftermath. With consummate skill, Sophia Turkiewicz weaves the personal with the historical, giving depth and meaning to both.” Peter Weir

“It is inspiring to see something made with passion directly from the heart. Sophia’s mother's story is amazing almost beyond belief and the interweaving of her saga with Sophia’s own story very deft, revealing and fascinating. It's a rare human story told with compassion and insight. You will touch people all over the world with this film.” Bruce Beresford

And here are some movie stills from 'Once My Mother':





Above is Sophia Turkiewicz (right), the filmmaker of 'Once My Mother', with her mother Helen.

Their story goes like this:

Abandoned in an Adelaide orphanage at the age of seven, Sophia feels betrayed by her mother, Helen. In early adulthood, Sophia still feels angry and resentful. Her mother is now married with two more children. Sophia rejects her new family and refuses contact with her mother.

In her twenties, Sophia is now a filmmaker living in far away Sydney, embracing her independence, but deep down, blaming her mother when things go wrong in her life. Yet Sophia finds herself drawn back to her mother’s life, using Helen’s stories as inspiration for her films but disguising them as fiction.

Thirty years on, Helen has dementia. Sophia starts to question their deeply troubled relationship. She digs out an unfinished documentary film about Helen that she’d started as a film student years before and finds herself compelled to finish it.

Returning to her mother’s former homeland of Eastern Poland in what is now Ukraine, Sophia begins to trace her mother’s traumatic childhood. Orphaned as a young girl, Helen grows up in a rural Polish village. As an adolescent, she’s illiterate and homeless, somehow surviving on the streets.

As Sophia re-examines her mother’s life, she discovers the historical truth behind Helen’s deportation to a Siberian gulag. Helen was one of almost two million Poles who were incarcerated in Russian gulags during World War Two. The truth behind this little known episode of history reveals a dark story of betrayal involving Stalin and the Allies.

Miraculously given their freedom, Helen is part of a vast exodus of Poles who travel from Russia with no food or organised transport. Over months, they trek thousands of miles to Uzbekistan and eventually, freedom in Persia.

Most of the Poles perish on this treacherous journey. Helen is one of the few survivors and she’s sent to a Polish refugee camp in Lusaka, Africa. Here she meets Valdiero, the love of her life, an Italian prisoner-of-war who becomes Sophia’s father.

Finally, a decade after leaving Poland, Helen and her baby daughter arrive in Australia as refugees. Not long afterwards, she abandons Sophia in an orphanage.

With growing insight, Sophia starts to re-assess the troubled relationship with her mother. But as Helen slips out of reach, Sophia must confront her own demons. Did she ever truly know this woman who became her mother? Does she have it in her heart to forgive her? And is it too late?

The awards garnered by 'Once My Mother' are listed below:

AUDIENCE AWARD – Krakow Film Festival
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY - Australian Directors Guild Awards
AUDIENCE AWARD BEST DOCUMENTARY - Adelaide Film Festival
BEST OF THE FEST - The only documentary among five films
AUDIENCE AWARD BEST FILM - Canberra Film Festival
Selected for Tasmania Action Day Screening, BOFA Film Festival
BEST DOCUMENTARY BIOGRAPHY - ATOM Awards
BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY & BEST SOUND Nominations, AACTA
Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts)

'Once My Mother' was written and directed by Sophia Turkiewicz; the producer was Rod Freedman.

ABC TV will screen 'Once My Mother' on Sunday, October 26, at 10.15pm.

You can watch the entire movie right here, for two weeks from today (October 26, 2014)

Movie trailer below:

'Fashion Bloggers': Watch Full Episodes

Are you keeping up with the E! channel show 'Fashion Bloggers'? 

You can watch full episodes her, below… (or if it looks a little small here, go straight to this link here).

Friday 24 October 2014

'Forbidden love': Aussie woman in Lebanon: Sunday Night - VIDEO

On Channel 7's 'Sunday Night' program, they follow the Australian couple who made headlines a few months ago when a young mother fled the country for Lebanon, and later asked the Australian government for assistance in returning.



Here is more to the story, below. But first, from the show's Facebook page:





'The shocking story of an Australian mother controlled by Islamic law - hunted by her estranged husband, charged with adultery and disowned by her family for being with a man who loved her.'
As per the 'Sunday Night' Facebook page:

'We follow the unthinkable struggle of an Australian woman fighting to leave a controlling marriage to be with the man she loves. But Mahassan has been shunned by her family and her culture and labelled a criminal.'

Here is a trailer for the interview, which screens this Sunday:



'Sunday Night' will screen on Sunday (and each Sunday) at 8pm, on Channel 7.



More photos of the couple released to media at the time of the headlines:



Between Two Ferns: Zach Galifianakis and Brad Pitt - VIDEO

The new ep of 'Between Two Ferns' by Zach Galifianakis is here, and it's Brad Pitt in the firing line. And yeah… there's an allusion to Jennifer Aniston…

Watch the soon to be viral madness:



For more, click here.


FCKH8.com: Young girls Drop F-Bombs for Feminism - VIDEO

Is it bad that I like this? After the initial shock of hearing little girl swear like sailors, of course.

It's the message, brought to you by FCKH8.com. I like. Watch:



Says the social media page for FCKH8:

Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism by FCKH8.com

Little Girls Drop “F-Bombs for Feminism” in Bluntly Comedic Viral Video Educating Adults On Sexism.
“Swear Jar Princesses” as Young as 6 Years-Old Use F-Word to Draw Adult Attention to More Offensive Words Like “Pay Inequality” and “Rape”

Los Angeles, CA– October 21, 2014 – Facing a future where women are still paid 23% less than men for the same work, and where 1 in 5 women are raped or sexually assaulted in gender-based violence, little girls between 6 and 13 years-old dressed as pretty pink princesses drop F-bombs to draw attention to society’s continued sexism. Asking the question, “What’s more offensive? A little girl saying f*ck or the sexist way society treats girls and women” these adorably articulate little ladies in sparkling tiaras turn the “princess in distress” stereotype on its head and contrast the F-word with words and statistics society should find shocking such as “pay inequality” and “rape.” The video also features a 12 year-old boy wearing a pink gown standing up against sexism saying, “When you tell boys not to ‘act like a girl,’ it’s because you think it’s bad to be a girl.”

Quotes from “Pink Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism”:
“Women make 23% less than men for the exact same f*cking work. I shouldn’t need a penis to get paid.”
“Stop focusing on the way I f*cking look and give me a book. My aspirations in life shouldn’t be worrying about the shape of my ass.”
“One out of five women will be sexually assaulted or raped by a man. Stop telling girls how to dress and start teaching boys not to f*cking rape.”

The girls appear along side women in the video sporting T-shirts with bold pink text declaring “Girls Just Want to Have Fun-damental Rights” and “This is What a #Feminist Looks Like.” The video is part of advocacy T-shirt company FCKH8.com’s charity T-shirt fundraising effort. The group’s website is making tees available starting at $15, with $5 from each tee sold benefiting five anti-sexism organizations and projects and asks website visitors to suggest their favorite groups to benefit.

Video producer Mike Kon comments, “Some adults may be uncomfortable with how these little girls are using a bad word for a good cause. It is shocking what they are saying, but the real shock is that women are still paid less than men for the same work in 2014, not the use of the F-word. The big statistic that 1 out of 5 women are sexually assaulted or raped is something society seems to find less offensive than a little four letter word and we love how these girls draw attention to that imbalance.” He added, “Instead of washing these girls’ mouths out with soap, maybe society needs to clean up its act.”


Thoughts?








Thursday 23 October 2014

'Soul Mates': Bondi Hipsters on ABC2 - VIDEO Trailer

After announcing the series earlier his year, 'Bondi Hipsters' co-creators Christiaan Van Vuuren and Nick Boshier's kicked off their six-part TV series 'Soul Mates' tonight on ABC2 at 9:30pm (a repeat will air on Tuesday October 28, on the same channel at 9pm), and it was brilliant.

It goes beyond being a long overdue piss-take of the particular brand of folks who live in Bondi (hey, Housos takes a swipe at housing commission-residing 'Westies', and 'wogs' have been the butt of jokes for decades; it's definitely Bondi's turn).

No, this series is something else. Set in the past, the present, and the future, it's the future part that is the most entertaining, set in a time-travel travel agency, where everything is (virtual) madness and some one-liners are… too 'what the hell did they just say?'.

Like a scene where the co-worker is pregnant with a child (father-ed and mother-ed by a pool of people), and one of the attributes chosen for this child is 'a touch of autism.' YUP. (I actually said out loud, "Fucking, what?!" Coz, you know, I have a child with autism. But I do get it, the whole, designer babies of the future means that their attributes will be able to be chosen. It's good to know autism will become cool, yay).

No, I really do get the joke and found it strangely amusing… that's the beauty of this new series. You might find yourself being inexplicably hooked.

Watch:



'Bondi Hipsters' six-part TV series 'Soul Mates' is on ABC2 at 9.30pm each Thursday (a repeat will air the following Tuesday at 9pm on ABC2).


RIP Nokia: Memes

After the massive cuts in jobs last month, it was apparent that Microsoft was planning to drop the Nokia brand (sniff).

The end was nigh for Nokia the day it got sold, and today... the Nokia Lumia brand has officially been laid to rest.

However, it's just the ‘Nokia Lumia’ brand that is going away, while the Nokia company will still exist and will continue to produce mobile phones as a separate entity, though under control of Microsoft Mobiles.

In memory of the ol' Nokia (who didn't own one?!) and it's indestructibility and sheer no-frill-ness, here are some of the best memes to honour the Nokia. RIP, 'brick.'























Wednesday 22 October 2014

Renée Zellweger Responds: Appearance Talk

Renée Zellweger has spoken out about basically being trolled for her appearance. And this is what she had to say:



In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE magazine (US, sister mag to WHO magazine), the Oscar winner says she looks different because she is healthier and happier than ever – and she's okay with people taking notice. 

"I'm glad folks think I look different! I'm living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I'm thrilled that perhaps it shows," Zellweger, 45, says of the attention she received after an appearance at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards in Beverly Hills on Monday. 

She called the conversation about her appearance "silly," and says she is choosing to address it because "it seems the folks who come digging around for some nefarious truth which doesn't exist won't get off my porch until I answer the door." 

"My friends say that I look peaceful. I am healthy," Zellweger continues. "For a long time I wasn't doing such a good job with that. I took on a schedule that is not realistically sustainable and didn't allow for taking care of myself. Rather than stopping to recalibrate, I kept running until I was depleted and made bad choices about how to conceal the exhaustion. I was aware of the chaos and finally chose different things." 

She now shares her life with boyfriend Doyle Bramhall – and she's clearly happy with her life with him.


"I did work that allows for being still, making a home, loving someone, learning new things, growing as a creative person and finally growing into myself," she says. 

She adds:

"People don't know me in my 40s. People don't know me [as] healthy for a while," she says. "Perhaps I look different. Who doesn't as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I'm happy." 


Read the original People article here.

Tuesday 21 October 2014

Sam and Lisa Respond: 'The Bachelor'/'The Project' Interview: VIDEO

It's here, you guys.

Sam and Lisa respond to the interview with Blake and Louise on last night's 'The Project', by Carrie Bickmore.


UPDATED: the full video interview is below the transcript here.



Here is what went down with Sam and Lisa, after they watched the footage that WE watched (as seen in the transcript, in the link above… get it?)



Sam's response on watching Blake say that she had asked him not to reveal his love for Louise when he broke of their engagement…

“That’s the biggest load of shit I’ve heard in my life.”

Adds Lisa: “It’s just a web of lies.”

Adds Sam: "I had suspicions he was interested in someone else, because he’d said to me that he’d invested a lot of feelings in the top four, [but] when I raised my suspicions with him, he flat out denied it.”

“I would have preferred for him to say that because I don’t think it looks bad on me at all.”

Asks Carrie, did she have suspicions he had feelings for somebody else.


From last night's clip, Carrie asks: "How does a man how dumped you on live TV woo you again… and Sam responds to THAT letter Blake gave Louise.


Lisa says: "Well, he actually called me after the finale, and he said that he was quite upset about everything that had gone on, and I was giving him a bit of support but still letting Sam know that he was in contact with me, and then he asked me if I still had feelings for him, and I could still see a future with him."


Lisa's reply: "I told him to get lost… I said how dare you say that to me, and how dare you ruin the friendship between Sam and me. If you wanted to chose me, then chose me as your number one; I would never be second to anyone."


She adds: "I messaged Louise and told he tried to contact me… and she won't reply, I think she's a little bit too naive to actually believe it."


Lisa then adds that she's happy to have found her new friend in Sam. “I feel like I went on this journey to find Sam,” she says. Cute.

When, when will this drama end!?

To watch the entire interview, click here.

Oscar Pistorius: sentenced to 5 years in prison

Oscar Pistorius has been sentenced to a maximum of 5 years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, in news just in.



This sentencing comes a month after the paralympian, 27, was convicted of culpable homicide after a six-month trial in the High Court of South Africa, in the city of Pretoria.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Thokozile Masipa said: “The decision on sentencing is mine and mine alone.”

“The loss of life cannot be reversed. Hopefully the sentence today can provide closure for the family and all concerned” she said.

“Considering the degree of negligence – the house arrest sentence would not be appropriate.”

She added: “I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force."



Jennifer Byrne Presents - 'Malala: Life After The Taliban' VIDEO

Ensure your daughter (and you son) watches this… I did. It demonstrated how far a powerful young women will go, against the odds.

Jennifer Byrne presented an Australian television exclusive interview with the world’s youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, student activist Malala Yousafzai. Jennifer is an impeccable interviewer, and she demonstrates this here.

It was absolutely essential viewing. (This iView version is available in this link below until November 2, 2014, and was originally broadcast at 6.30pm on Sunday 19 October 2014. The file size is approximately 140 MB).

Click here to watch.




Ribs & Burgers: '3 for 3' Third Birthday Offer

Last week, Josie's Juice was a guest at Ribs & Burgers - and, you guys… what a feed.

And now, you get to celebrate with this restaurant, celebrating three years in Australia this week.

On October 29, they are offering all patrons their delicious cheeseburgers (below, stop salivating) for three bucks each. And: you can get up to three of them, for three dollars each. So, people with a healthy appetite: this is your moment; you can hoe into three of these babies for under 10 dollars.



If you're keen, you can venture into other items on the menu… you be glad you did.

Think: the most tender, meat-falling-off-the-bone ribs, the lightest cabbage salad with just the right amount of pine nuts, the best milk-bar style chips, and… the creamiest Milo thickshake. We loved all the fare from the menu, but that Milo thickshake? Oh my. I'd go back JUST for that (and a rib and two mini burger combo).

The decor inside a Ribs & Burgers joint is old school and the styling is as delicious as the food. I seriously love the vibe; an old Cottee's wooden box which holds the takeaway carry bags, the menu on a massive chalk board, and my fave part: all the old butcher store motifs, with old meat mincers gracing the walls and frames featuring mincer illustrations, even wait staff decked out in butcher aprons. This place is an interior decorator's dream. Here are some pics:






 



The ribs and burgers meal combo







And so, back to the birthday deal, the 3 for 3.

Here's the blurb:

On October 29, to celebrate turning three this year, Ribs & Burgers will be offering customers $3 R&B Birthday Cheese Burgers for five hours over the lunch period at all venues across NSW, VIC and QLD.

As a thank you gesture from Ribs & Burgers for helping it to reach the 3-year milestone, customers will be able to enjoy mouthwatering R&B Birthday Cheese Burgers at a celebratory low cost.

The company has seen rapid growth since its launch in 2011, attracting a very loyal fan base within a very short space of time. In only three years Ribs & Burgers has opened 10 restaurants across Australia and with another set to be opening soon in NSW as well as overseas, so the brand looks set for many more good years ahead!

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WHEN + TIME + WHAT + WHERE:

Wednesday, 29 October, 2014 11.00am – 4.00pm sharp

$3 R&B Birthday Cheese Burgers, at all Ribs & Burgers stores in NSW, VIC and QLD.


Like them on Facebook here.

And find out more about the brand, the menu, the store locations and more right here.

More pics!