The Friday Five #3: If you like Better than Cheesecake, you'll love...

So it seems that the 'Friday' Five is turning out to be just a title, rather than an indication of when I'll actually post the list.

Anyway, today's topic is Australian blogs that are kind of similar to mine but better. I also reckon these guys are still quite underrated within the blogosphere, so hopefully they might gain a couple of extra readers from this listing.

1. Bland Canyon

Bland Canyon is written by 'PetStarr', a 25 year old chick from Adelaide. Her posts are really witty and show a healthy disregard for pop culture and life in general.

Check out Worst fancy dress costumes ever, like this little beauty:



or Why video shops suck as good examples of her rant-style posts.

2. Audrey and the Bad Apples

I love Audrey. I reckon she's one of the bloggers I'd most like to meet in real life because she's really funny and easy going.

Audrey is a frustrated wannabe writer, who aspires to write for Neighbours, but has been rejected by Frankie magazine and is currently on the dole.

Audrey writes about television and pop culture, but also about bigger issues that affect her, such as this recent post on abortion, which was quite possibly the best blog post I've ever read.

She's into books; she's into feminism... she's a girl after my own heart.

3. girl.blog.etc

I've just started reading GBE and she seems like a pretty cool chick. She writes about her daily life in Queensland, such as her recent encounter with a mouse. I can empathise with her here, as I too had a mouse in my bedroom the other night, and much as I love animals, I don't love them scurrying around my room in the wee hours of the morning.

These last two aren't anything like my blog really, but I love them both and I'm sure you will too.

4. Jeut

Jeut is great. He posts cartoons about his everyday work life and love life that manage to say a great deal in just a few words. His is one of the best new blogs I've seen in ages. I'll let his stuff speak for itself:



Click on the picture to enlarge.

5. What's this on my hand?

I believe Jobe is a comedian. Or at least a wannabe comedian. He's quite funny. He reminds me of Demetri Martin with his one-liners. An example:

Today I saw a lady fall down the escalator. It was like seeing someone fall down the stairs. But faster.

Honourable Mentions this week go to Melbourne girls Reasons You Will Hate Me, A Wild Young Under Whimsy and Melbourne Human Female. They're all great blogs, but I reckon they're also big enough not to need my endorsement.

As for me, I had a pretty big weekend. Work dinner and Panic on Friday; a housewarming and the most elaborate 21st I've ever been to on Saturday (apparently the budget was around $10,000). Relationship issue of the week is that the boy and I are still working out how to act like a couple in front of other people. You think we'd be down with it after all this time, but we aren't there yet. Sigh.

Big Brother Showdown 2006- Team Fag Hag vs. Team For God Sakes Pull Up Your Damn Pants

Latest Big Brother evictee, gay farmer David, on whether he wanted to be a father figure in the house:

I just wanted to buggerise around

Oh David, you and your double entendres!

I'm supporting Team Camilla.



Text 'CAMILLA' to 1992 SAVE.

The Kensington Ladies' Erotica Society

Today I've been reading about The Kensington Ladies' Erotica Society, which was formed by a group of women from San Francisco in 1977. Since then they've published three collections of erotica, and are still going strong.



They wear masks in interviews and write under psuedonyms. I especially liked this story about how the name 'Rose Solomon' came about:

For Rose, meeting her husband was not only an erotic dream come true, it gave birth to her pseudonym. The name burst forth during an intimate moment when they were new to each other. She had whispered that his ears smelled like roast almonds. "Rose Solomon?" he’d cried like a man accused. "Who’s she?" she asked, equally alarmed. For their 39 years together Rose Solomon has remained "the other woman" in their life.

Source.

The stories integrate the erotic with their everyday lives, which has become a source of amusement for Rose's family. She notes how after one television interview, she returned home to find her teenage children mocking her:

Ohhh, see how the erotic permeates every aspect of my life! Just inhale the freshness of my laundry as it tumbles from the dryer into my waiting arms! Ahhh, here, feel the warmth! How sensual is each sock and towel. Oh, let me press them to my lips, to my breasts

Source: Jane Juffer, At Home with Pornography, New York: New York University Press, 1998, p.177-8

Hehe, 'Rose Solomon'. Love it.

The Friday (ok, Tuesday) Five #2: The Celebrity Blogs

I'm still planning to make this a regular Friday thing. My real life really knocked me around last week though, and blogging was the last thing on my mind. A couple of events in my personal life have really shaken my faith in myself, and made me question my very personality. If you just weren't a very nice person, would you be aware of it? I suppose all you can do is do what Earl Hickey does and change how you act in the present and in the future.



Anyway, this week's theme is celebrities, those people our culture simultaneously idolises and judges. A superficial topic, yes, but also a way for us urbanites to make sense of our world. While we can't know everyone in our world, we can 'know' celebrities, in a sense. And celebrity gossip is a way for us to determine what is and isn't acceptable behaviour.(See Jackson, Michael).

1. Pink is the New Blog. This is the blog I check out every day. If Trent's blog gets much bigger, I reckon he could single-handedly destroy the woman's gossip magazine. Why? Because he does it better and faster. The weekly magazines I flip through while waiting in line at the supermarket can't match the speed or the wit of this ultra up-to-date uber gossip blog. If you have any interest in the cult of celebrity, this is your blog. Trent's commentary is cynical yet also affectionate, especially for Britney Spears and Jake Gyllenhaal, the latter whom he fondly refers to as Jakey.

A random example:

What the hell is wrong with Xtina Aguilera... does she seriously think she looks good like this? Check out these pictures of Xtina on the set of her new video:

Those bangs? Horrrrrrible! I really hope that is a wig cuz if Xtina really cut her hair like this then she is as dumb as hell.

2. Go Fug Yourself is another favourite. It's a really simple concept- Heather and Jessica criticise celebrities who look "fugly" (frightfully ugly)- but they do it oh so well.

Example:

My fascination with Keira Knightley's odd fashion choices continues apace-- and no, in this case, I'm not referring to the greasy-haired accessory on camera-left.

It's one thing to cut open the closed end of a pillowcase, belt it, and call it a summer minidress, but it's quite another level of fug creativity altogether when you find a way for the belt itself to double as a bra, then stroll out of the house with cute shoes and a hot red clutch as if you didn't have the entire stability of your outfit riding on one potentially shifty piece of leather.

I almost want to pat her on the back. In the global sport that fashion lunacy has become, this is almost certainly a medalworthy performance in the Fuglympics. It puts the "bra" in "bravo."

3. IMDb. It's not a celebrity site per se, but the Internet Movie Database is still one of the best celebrity resources around. If you've ever wanted to know how old a star is, what other movies or television shows they've been in, or trivia about their lives, this is the place. You can also bitch about them with other users on the forums.



For instance, say you want to know about, say, Anna Faris, who I just saw in My Super Ex-Girlfriend,* a quick IMDb search tells you she's turning thirty in September, graduated in English Literature from the University of Washington, has been married to Ben Indra since 2004, and (oh dear) is rumored to be starring as Cindy Campbell again in Scary Movie 5 in 2008.

4. Perez Hilton is similar to Pink is the New Blog. If PITNB isn't enough for your celebrity gossip needs though, this is a good alternative, as is The Superficial. In a similar vein, I also like Gawker, for "Manhattan Media News and Gossip" and Defamer all the L.A. goss.

5. Find a Death. The deaths of celebrities are often just as interesting as their lives. I was obsessed with this site for a while. Unlike the other sites I've listed though, Scott's site is not exhaustive. He doesn't update the site that often, and once you've looked through the directory, there's little to keep you coming back. It's absolutely fascinating stuff though, and if you can stomach it, there are quite a few gory pictures. Fans of the site are called 'death hags', and a quirky idiosyncrasy of Scott's is to take a photo of the person in questions mailbox. Love it.



*Is it worth seeing? It isn't bad, but it isn't really good either. My biggest feeling with this film was that its potential was wasted. It's a great premise, and there were some brilliant moments in it, but the execution is poor. The shark scene was quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever seen in a movie; I couldn't buy Eddie Izzard as a heterosexual; and while it was great to see a female character with a forthright sexuality, the fact that she's really neurotic and well, crazy, seems to cancel out its liberatory potential. Uma is perfect for the role, and I think she looks hot as G-girl and as her alter ego, Jenny Johnson, but the film could have been so much better than it is.

Clerks II

I can't wait for Clerks II.



And here's something I never thought I'd say:

Jay actually looks kind of hot in this picture.



Well, relatively, anyway.



Links:

Photos from the Premiere

IMDB Listing

Silent Bob Speaks

The Friday Five #1: The Confessionals.

This is the first installment of what I hope will become a regular feature of the blog. Each week I'll be listing five blogs or websites I like that have a particular theme. Some will be really well known, others won't be, but all come with the Better than Cheesecake Seal of Approval.

This week's theme is confessions.

1. PostSecret

I'm sure you're all familiar with PostSecret already- Technorati lists it as the 11th most popular blog in the blogosphere- but if you've somehow missed the phenomenon, PostSecret is a weekly-updated blog that contains postcards people have sent in where they confess their deepest, darkest secrets.

Here's an example:



It's well worth checking out PostSecret every week, as Frank only keeps one set of postcards up at a time.

For such a simple concept, PostSecret can be really poignant and moving. It's even saved lives.

2. GroupHug

GroupHug is addictive. It's similar in concept to PostSecret, yet it's more accessible- as far as I know, everyone's confession gets posted, unless it breaks the rules, such as including contact information or including "gratuitous vulgarity"- and it's totally anonymous, so there's heaps of people's dirty little secrets, and some pretty dark stuff too.

Typical topics are confessing to infidelity; the desire to commit infidelity; or confessing that you're secretly attracted to members of the same sex.

A couple of examples:

I'm secretly in love with one of my teachers. Im 18; he's 27. I know I'm one of his favorites, which makes me really happy. I always find myself having crazy, wild fantasies about him. I'm a total good girl, but if he asked me to screw him, I'd be there in a second. I'd do anything for him, and that's sad. It's not that I just want his body. He's damn sexy, but he has the greatest personality too. I get depressed looking at him because he is the perfect man I will never have.

By the way, I realize I am pathetic.

You know, I never had a crush on a teacher at high school. Uni, yes; high school, no.

I place security tags in innocent shoppers bags and pockets to see their embarrassment when the alarm goes off.

I kissed my first girl at 19. The next one at 25 when I lost my virginity. I had plenty of girls that I could have been with. I was a virgin mostly because I did not want to sleep with a woman without being in love (I did not so much care about being married, I just did not want to lead someone on just to sleep with them). But a large part of the reason I stayed a virgin was because I was secretly filled with pride whenever people would express disbelief that I was a virgin. I loved the fact that I was so unique in that I was attractive enough to have easily been able to have gotten laid but hadn't yet. But now I really regret missing out on that young college/highschool pussy when I had a chance.

oh well.

And for the record, I did confess something myself recently. You'll just have to guess which one it is.

3. Daily Zone 1&2 Confession

I've just started reading Melbourne Train Girl, and I really like her style. She writes stories in the third person about her daily life and her adventures on the Melbourne public transport system. Her template evokes a notepad.

A taste:

[After cutting herself a new fringe:]

On the train home a shifty looking man with a shaved head and large red bag at his feet sat opposite Melbourne Train Girl and stared at her with red, swollen eyes. The door between the carriages opened with a dull thunk and three Connex officers walked through. The man began to shift nervously in his seat, moving is head from left to right whilst covering his forehead and eyes with his hand. Melbourne Train Girl decided he either had no ticket or was worried about something entirely different and much more serious and exciting.

She waited for the officers to ask passengers for their tickets, but they never did. Instead they chatted to each other before one decided he would try and fix the broken door closer on the door they had come through. One minute later the second male officer went to help, and in ten minutes time the three of them left the train, one carrying the now broken off piece of door hardware in his coat pocket.

The man opposite Melbourne Train Girl resumed his staring. She tried to ignore it and kept writing.

The train pulled into her station, and as she stood up to leave the man spoke. In a drawl, slow and thick like golden syrup, he said "Your hair is awesome man..."

"Thanks!" she replied as she smiled and jumped off the train. Once at her car she saw her reflection in the dark windows and decided he was right.

She wonders how the Short Boy feels about Bettie Page...

4. Belle de Jour

'Belle de Jour' is the nom de plume of an anonymous London Callgirl who blogs about her life and her escapades in high-class prostitution.

Her blog won an award for "Best Written British Blog" in 2003, and she's also published three books while remaining anonymous. Well worth a look.

5. I couldn't think of a fifth confessional blog worth noting. If I think of one I'll let you know.

Here's a thought for the day instead, which comes from this article by Matthew Ricketson on the proposed media law changes that are happening in Australia:

You will hear a lot of talk about the internet delivering diversity of opinion through the exponentially expanding blogosphere, and how that is more important than diversity of ownership - but remember that when Rupert Murdoch visited Australia recently, it was he who had lunch with Prime Minister John Howard, not Joe Blogger

.

Touche.

"Wordup" Report- Is Generation Y really Generation "Yo, Wassup my Homies?"?

I was born in 1982. According to Wikipedia, I'm just past Generation X (1961-1981), part of the MTV Generation, the Boomerang Generation, and Generation Y (1977-2003).

According to a recent report, Wordup, from McCrindle research, an Australian social research company, apparently I talk like this:

"Check out Dominic. He's bustin' some phatty moves."

"Girl, why you trippin'... He ain't all that."

"He be talkin' smak 'bout me."

"Yo, wassup jigga?"

"Why you haten on me?"

"Man, you better shup up or I'll bust yo' grill!"

That's right, readers. As a modern young Melburnian woman, apparently I'm talking as if I'm Shawana, an African-American Ricki Lake guest.



Not always though.

While I may very well say:

"I'm rollin wit' da homies."

I may also 'Australianise' this by saying:

"I'm rollin wit' da blokes and sheilas."

For real.

On no wait, sorry, fo rizzle.

This article from today's Age does acknowledge the irony used in these phrases, but I don't think it goes far enough.

I'm well aware of terms like "Wassup homie?" from our American-saturated media culture, but if I was to use such as Americanism, or call someone a "hoochie mama" it would always be in the most ironic fashion.

This is especially the case for internet-speak like "ROFL!!!" or "LOL".

The report is on the money with some of the terms. I do use "indie", "sick" (very ironically), "old school" and "emo", but the amount of Americanisms in the report is ridiculous for a study supposedly undertaken in Australia.

Maybe I'm wrong though. I don't know many teenagers. I know I always bypass any blogs that write in text-speak.

Does anyone know any Aussie Generation Y-ers who speak like this?

New Template

As you can see, I've got a new template for my blog.

It's called 'rawk'. Hopefully it's not too Avril Lavigne.

I just realised my blog now matches one of my hoodies:



I'm quite big on the matching.

Link: Toxico clothing

Update.

Hey guys.

How are you all?

Long time no blog, I know.

A proper post is on the way, but here's a quick update for you all anyway:

-I'm blogging on a Saturday night.

Loser!

I know.

But I have reasons:

-I'm a bit sick with a cold. I'm quite amazed at the amount of snot the human nose can generate.

Gross!

Yes, yes it is.

-I have a thesis to write.

So why are you blogging then? Hop to it!

Well, alright then, imaginary reader. I shall, after I have exhausted every other procrastinatory possibility.

-I've already had one big night this weekend. A big shout out goes to my fellow honours kids and bloggers, the lovely Amy and Stef, with whom I drank beer, ate dumplings and discussed the moral implications of turkeyslapgate with last night.

Well... alright then. But I'm expecting your next post to be a decent one.

Oh it will be. It's going on Real Dolls. (Not safe for work)

Til then,

Susanne


P.S. I somehow made it through my first semester of honours. :)

If I can manage to keep my shit together for a few more months, I might just be able to get that H1 average I'm gunning for.