Image source: Wordle

The Federal Election was called on Saturday 17 July.  Professorfunk used wordle to create a word cloud of the announcement speech Julia Gillard delivered.   It’s interesting to see the words that were used repeatedly during the first official election pitch.

The election has been set for August 21 2010, but to be able to vote on the day persons 18 years and over are required to enrol to vote.  Enrollment closes on Monday 19 July at 8pm.  It doesn’t leave much time for people to enrol.  So if you want your say in the Australia’s future – go enrol!

Last night I was glued to my iphone following updates on Twitter about a possible Australian Labor Party (ALP) leadership spill.  ALP spills are nothing new in the history of Australia, this one however had major ramifications.  The leader of the ALP was currently the Prime Minister of Australia.

At 9:30am this morning a change of leadership did occur and Australia had it’s first female Prime Minister sworn in at 1:00pm.  Julia Gillard became the first female Australian Prime Minister.  Amazing.

Regardless of which side of the political fence you sit on you have to take notice of the historical significance of this moment in time.  For the first time in our history we will be governed by a woman.  For the first time in our history we will be governed by a single person.  For the first time in our history we had a Prime Minister lose his leadership before the end of his first term in office.  A big day of firsts.

For many people it was also the first time they realised that under the Westminster system of government they don’t actually vote for a Prime Minister¹ and therefore the Party could decide to have a change of leadership which would lead to a change of Prime Minister.

Today again reinforced to me the there is no amount of money in this world that would see me take on the responsibility and the scrutiny that comes with being a politician.  I admire all those that have decided to serve their nation in this manner, regardless of their political persuasion. It takes a level of courage that few of us will ever need in our lifetimes, and I’m thankful that there are people out there willing to stand up and be the voice to our nation.

While my opinions about the previous Prime Minister had been waning, my heart did break for him today when he made his final address as the Prime Minister.  I think people tend to forget that he lost his job today, and for anyone that’s a massive blow.  It would be a hundred times harder to lose that job while the nation is watching and commenting.  I admired him for the professionalism and dignity he showed in his final speech.  I think it showed the level of his character to be so gracious under what a lot of people would acknowledge was an unusually hard way to lose your position.

For what it’s worth, I think he made the right decision to not contest the role.  Stepping aside has left him with the option of being able to step back into a pivotal role when his party needs him without having the “numbers” from the vote hanging over his head.  It also allows the party to keep a unified front and not display to the public just how fractured they may be.  Something the Liberal Party would do a lot to learn from.

How will Julia Gillard fair as Prime Minister? That’s for the history books to decide; but she will do as good a job, or as bad a job, as any man would in that position.  The fact that she’s a woman should not be the defining legacy of her leadership.

As one voter in this mighty fine country I wish her well and thank her for standing up and taking on this responsibility when she was called on.  I’m proud this day to have voted for the Australian Labor Party, and I’m equally as proud to be an Australian with a female Prime Minister.  I look forward to the day when it’s no longer of historical significance what the gender of our leaders are and I believe this is one small step towards making that a reality.

¹  The Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General, who by convention under the Constitution, must appoint the parliamentary leader of the party, or coalition of parties, which has a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. – http://www.aph.gov.au

Every year MacDonalds raises money for the Ronald MacDonald House Charities with McHappy Day.  For every Big Mac sold a $1 is donated to the Ronald MacDonald House Charities.

I’ve always believed that the Ronald MacDonald House is a brilliant charity, but after having my first stint in hospital I now believe them to be invaluable.  I can’t imagine being a family with someone ill and not be able to be near them.

Even if you don’t eat MacDonalds you can donate via the website, all you have to do is click on this link.  Every little bit helps and you never know you may one day be in need of the assistance that Ronald MacDonald House Charities provide.

Let me start by saying that I put my love of Britney Spears in the same closet as my love for the British Monarchy.  I don’t know why I love them so, but I can’t help it.  It’s fundamental to my existence.  Therefore it made perfect sense to go and see Britney when she toured Australia.

HUBBY and I attended the show on Wednesday 11 November at Rod Laver Arena.   A few days prior to the concert the papers were going nuts with opinions about her miming her show.  My personal belief, you charge for people to see you ‘live’ you sing live.  If you’re dance routines are going to be so hectic that you need to use backing tracks than I expect to see a damn good show and it would be expected that this information be put in the ticket details.

It’s hard to be objective about the show as I’d been fortunate enough to see Pink in concert a few months before hand.  For starters the ticket to Pink was a quarter of the price to see Britney and the seats were three times better.  Now, Pink and Britney are two completely different performing animals, but you can’t help but draw parallels between the shows.

Pink was engaging, full of energy, animated and physically dominate.  Britney seemed to be going through the motions.  She address the audience twice, both times the audio was hard to understand and it was short lived.  As a member of the audience I left the Pink concert feeling like I’d gotten a glimpse of Pink the person and the artist.  I left Britney’s show feeling like I’d just paid to see the Dolphin Show at Seaworld.

There were claims leaking from the Perth show that she spent a lot of time with her back to the audience.  Well, it’s true she did, but lets be fair the stage was large and they were trying to perform to every seat in the house.  The choreographers definitely tried to give all people a view of the show.  However this meant that there was a lot of time spent moving from one stage mark to another.

There were also claims that you didn’t see much of her on the big screen.  I don’t think this claim is founded in reality.  The use of the big screens was great.  A real mix of the live performance and pre-recorded videos.  It’s a shame that Britney’s performance on stage flagged in comparison between the pre-recorded moves and the live show.  The inclusion of Perez Hilton made me chuckle, and the use of the big countdown clock worked really well to get the audience excited.

The dance routines had moments of brilliance which were rewarded with much love from the audience.  I really enjoyed the routine for “Piece of Me” (which is included below).  However at times it felt like Britney was dancing around her handbag in a nightclub; just marking time before she moved on to the next set piece.  She seemed lost somehow. When you see some of the footage of the show from other concerts it may be easier to speculate that she was just having a bad night.  Obviously dealing with jet lag, her boys turning up, the bad press from Perth and life in general; and you can forgive someone a little for that.

There were sparks of Britney.  Sparks of the performer that you saw early on in her career and in the entertainment media.  When she’d smile her face was like  a beacon.  It was easy to understand why people feel so drawn to her.  But those moments were few and far between. I think I would have been more forgiving if she’d interacted with the audience more.  Showed some of the southern belle sweetness she’s known for.

The costuming at times left something to be desired.  If I was Britney I’d be asking questions of the designers – do they hate her?  They were not flattering to a body that’s had two children in quick succession and enjoyed it’s far share of Starbucks and Drive-Thru meals.  She’s skinny, but she’s not toned.  Pink was ripped.  When she did the belly moves nothing moved, it was tight.  Unfortunately there were times when Britney could have been mistaken for doing the truffle shuffle.  Costuming that made advantage of nude lycra and supportive construction would have made a world of difference.  Even something that was flattering to her body shape would have made a world of difference.  She’s not Beyonce so she’s not going to be able to pull off the current one piece fashion trend like Beyonce can.  Sometimes less really is more.

It’s hard to separate Britney the paparazzi version and the entertainment version.  I don’t know how she manages to get out of bed everyday in a world that is constantly hounding her.  How can she step back and prepare for her tours when she can’t get a moments peace.  As much as I love hearing about Britney, I think there should be legislation passed globally that puts restraints around what the paparazzi can and cannot do while stalking a star.  It’s mental and it’s a vicious circle.  Everyone’s looking to say how she’s failing at life, and I’ll admit that the perception of her show suffers for this.  However, I think for me it boils down to ticket price.  I don’t feel like I got value for money. (Especially when there was no encore… who doesn’t do an encore?  People expect an encore.  People don’t expect to have the house lights turned on and everything come to a holt!)

I can’t stress enough – I really wanted this show to rock.  I wanted to be Dazzled just like Edward did to Bella.  But I wasn’t.  I did find that I wanted to rush the stage and give her a big hug and tell her that everything will work out and not to listen to the critics.  I’ve got the pound puppy rescue mentality something shocking when it comes to Britney.  In my head she’s this sweet person that’s just trying to make it in a crazy world.  Even if a fifth of what you read or hear about her is true, no one should have to deal with that sort of scrutiny or invasion.  But no amount of personal wishing and hoping for her to have a better time of it makes up for the fact that I traveled interstate to  see an average show.

Britney would benefit from seeing Bette Middler in show.  I paid marginally more per ticket to see the Divine Miss M in concert a few years ago and I left that show feeling like I’d been dazzled.  She interacted with the audience.  She could belt out a tune.  The costuming and choreography was amazing.   The stage wasn’t massive for an arena show, but they made such good use of it.  Even the cheap seats (which weren’t that cheap!) felt like they got a diamond class performance.  That’s what my ticket price for Britney had me expecting and it fell short of that.

Don’t get me wrong, overall the show was good.  I always enjoy hearing her music and it was great to see her in the flesh.  The support performers were amazing and breath taking.  The sets had some interesting concepts for moving around, making the transition between themes and utilizing the space.  Would I rank it in my top ten concerts of all time?  Unfortunately not.  I can’t help but feel like I paid just to be able to say I saw Britney Spears, when I really wanted to be able to say I saw Britney Spears kick ass, take names and prove her critics wrong!

After searching for years for an image that would incorporate the essence of “gnomeangel” and not finding anything, I turned it over to a professional.  Gareth from Down with Design turned his very talented hand to making me a brand, and I love it.

I gave Gareth a very detailed and conflicting brief and he managed to wade through it all and come up with something that is funky, cute and playful.  I love it.  It’s beyond what I was hoping to get, and it’s wonderful.  I can’t wait to start putting the brand on everything!  First order of business will be ordering some MOO cards.

I can’t tell you how much I love this little gnome.  I would highly recommend Gareth to anyone considering getting some design work done.  He was awesome.  Just check out his portfolio if you don’t believe me -> clicky!

I would love to know what you all think of the latest addition…

Remember that Census year where the Urban Legend went around that if 10,000 people filled out their religion as ‘Jedi’ the Australian government would have to recognise it as a legitimate religion.  When really the only thing it legitimised was how many dorks there were in the Australian public.  Well I’m counting on those dorks now!

And here’s why… Australia’s own seriously funny Angus Sampson has a written and directed a little movie called The Last Supper.  The film’s website gives the following synopsis:

Set ten minutes before Jesus arrives at The Last Supper, 13 men at lunch fueled by wine and emotion. Satirising Man’s hedonism and greed, ‘The Last Supper’ explores race and religion whilst re-imagining two of history’s greatest betrayals… three if you count reality television. Written by The Age

The film screened at both the Sydney and Melbourne International Film Festival’s, and has sub-sequentially been put forward for consideration in The Inside Film Awards.  Inside Film says this about it’s awards:

The Inside Film Awards celebrates and champions Australian film and creative talent. We facilitate a unique dialogue between Australian filmmakers and their audience, support and promote Australian cinema and invigorate the national screen culture.

Let me just break that down for you in everyday movie goer: “Only the wanky survive.”  Which, if you ask me, isn’t in the “spirit of Australia”.  We’re all about taking the piss, seeing the underdog get up and drinking till you’re too shagged to shag and then passing out in the back of a ute at the local B&S with your pants around your ankles.  Um, ok, went a little too far into my own personal Australia there, but you get where I’m going with this.  Not voting for this film would be un-Australian. It would spit in the general direction of all that was achieved with the Eureka Stockade.

Australian’s don’t want to be invigorated, we just want to laugh at someone getting hit in the nuts.  It’s why Australia’s Funniest Home Videos has outlasted The Midday Show, Hey Hey It’s Saturday, Bert Newton and the cockroaches.  So do yourself, and your country, a massive favour and show The Inside Film Awards who the force is with and vote for The Last Supper – it’s the Australian thing to do!

Click the banner to vote…

♦ Disclaimer: The makers of The Last Supper had nothing to do with this blog post, it’s just one crazy fans attempt to woo Angus Sampson and see Jedi get the proper recognition it deserves within the Australian Religious circles.  Oh and stick it to the film industry that thinks a film has to be all artsy and serious to be any good.  Who said you can’t be funny and profound?  Did no one see Dude, Where’s My Car?  Cinematic gold my friends, cinematic gold!

Writer and Director John Hughes has died of a heart attack at the age of 59.  For those of you not born in to Generation X you might not realise the significance of this event.  But for those of you that love your movies and know a little thing or two about quality this day is a sad day indeed.

I remember sneaking down to a friends place to watch “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, I felt so dirty.  Singing along to Ferris as he rode that float.  Wishing you were as cool as he was, and had the engineering aptitude to rig up a sleeping dummy system.  They don’t make movies like that anymore…

Every Christmas we watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, another John Hughes classic.  This year we’ll watch and toast to the wonderful that was John Hughes.

To quote Grace from Ferris Bueller: Oh, he’s very popular Ed. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads – they all adore him. They think he’s a righteous dude.

John Hughes you were our righteous dude!

As a reproductively challenged woman I completely understand the crazy that is behind this, but I’d be surprised if it was real.  Although knowing the desperation to have children it wouldn’t surprise me.  Also, it works out to be approxiamently $34 a go.  That’s not bad rates.  My mind also wonders whether he was tested for STDs before beginning on his ‘honest effort’.  Especially after finding out his wife was one to try out the field. 

In similar news we’re waiting on getting an appointment time with one of Canberra’s leading fertility specialists.  We’re going to give IVF one last chance and then resign ourselves to the fact that we’re not meant to have children.  It should be a long, expensive and interesting process.  Which, hopefully, will be worth it in the end.  Besides, it’s a perfect excuse to look at nursery furniture and baby clothing.  Yay!

Fire, Floods and all we’re missing is Famine. Australia is being rocked by crazy weather which in turn has brought with it some shocking natural disasters. In Victoria they’re experiencing what the media is calling “the worst fire disaster since European settlement”. In Queensland they’re having some of the worst floods on record as seasonal rains hit with force and cyclones cross the coast.

I’m not one for watching the news, there’s just so much misery and violence in the world I prefer the bliss that ignorance brings, but in this instance I can’t seem to get enough. It’s heartbreaking to see the wide spread devastation – the loss of lives, pets, homes, livestock, businesses and farms. To see what people are going through. Watching the tallies of lives lost, damage done and monies it will take to repair is hypnotically scary.

We were living in Canberra in 2003 when the Canberra Firestorm happened. I remember what that day was like and how it felt to prepare to live our home. I remember the noise, the heat, the colour of the sky and the uncertainty that all those things brought with them. In that fire Canberra lost 4 lives, 500 homes and 70% of its pastoral and forestry lands. We came really close to having to make the decision to stay or to leave, and I know what our decision would have been. We would have left. We were lucky, we never had to choose and we didn’t lose anything.

I grew up in North Queensland, and I’ve seen the impacts of flooding and cyclones. I’ve never lost family or property to either of those effects, but I’ve seen their impacts. My parents are currently living in Queensland, and in an area that has been significantly impacted by the flooding. When I was there last year we talked about the fact that the Mine that they work for needed enough rain to fill the dam before February or the mine (and therefore the town) would have to shut down. The area that the live in had enough rain in one week to take the dam from 4% to overflowing. There have been lives lost in the flooding.

A young boy, 14, lost his life at the river crossing that is at the end of the street my parents live on. A friend of our family was stopped while crossing the river and was asked to provide assistance. He held on to the arm of the drowned boy until he could no longer and the flood waters claimed the boys lifeless body. His body was found a few days later 400m from where he drowned. I can’t even begin to imagine the impact that this single event has had on the boy’s family and friends. Not to mention the impact on all those involved, especially the man that held his arm. It’s the same for the events that are unfolding in Victoria at the moment.

For Australia, this is our ‘Katrina’. In the same way the world watched as the US battled to contain the devastation and deal with the fallout, so will Australia be watched and judged. How will we fair? I’d like to think we’ll handle it a lot better than the Americans have handled the disaster on their doorstep. But it remains to be seen.

The impact of the global financial crisis will also play a role in this drama. It’s going to affect the level of support that we as a Nation can provide, and it’s going to affect the support that we can expect from other Nation’s. But it shouldn’t be an excuse not to lend a helping hand. It should also not be an excuse for the government to shy away from addressing the financial issues it is currently facing. In fact it can be an opportunity in a lot of ways to help provide some stimulus to the economy. Now is the time to be offering better opportunities to those that want to take up a trade skill – like carpentry, plumbing or an electrician. There’s going to be a lot of rebuilding to be done.

But there is something that we can all do to help out.  At the moment there’s not much they can do with physical supplies.  They need money.  So please, if you have any spare coin visit the following sites to donate to these worthy causes.  You never know, one day it could be you needing the support of strangers.

Major Australia Banks: St George, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac.

Major Aid Organizations: Red Cross, Salvation Army.