I am sick.  Really sick.  I haven’t been this ill in a long time.  Combined with all the hormones pumping through my system from the IVF I’m a mess of tears at the moment.  I am so homesick for my folks it’s not funny.

When I get homesick I listen to music that reminds me of home and how much I love my folks.  This song was dedicated to me by my Father one day when I was about twelve.  I listen to it whenever I’m homesick and pretend that we’re all together having a laugh and causing trouble.

Now I hope that one day we’ll be able to dedicate it to our daughter.

I’m a self confessed reality tv junkie.  I can’t get enough of the stuff.  In fact, in my circle of friends I am the poster child for addicted to television.  So imagine my surprise and joy when I came across Reality Ravings.  It’s a blog dedicated to reality television.  *insert happy dance*

Reality Ravings is run by the wonderful Emma who describes her blog in the following way:

Reality Ravings is an independent, irreverent, and informative blog.

Reality Ravings focuses on Australian Reality TV shows, and the top international reality programs.

The blog provides recaps, reviews, interviews with reality TV stars, gossip, where are they now, and reality TV highlights.

Since Australia at times screens the international reality TV shows after they have been screened in the US I very rarely put up spoilers so you can watch the shows and read the blog without finding out who has won.

To me though she could have just said “it’s a safe house for those taunted by a world that doesn’t understand the awesome that is reality television.”

During my addiction to Masterchef Australia I was spending more time on Reality Ravings then on my own blog.  It was great for nights when I missed the show and for seeing how the other reality television addicts were coping with the ups and downs of the show.

Now I read to see what my two favourite fashion bitches are up to, to find out how life after Masterchef is working out for the contestants and to find other reality television crushes.

It’s a great blog and I find Emma’s love for what she writes about really comes through.  She’s also open to interaction with her readers and fans of reality television which makes for some great debates and exchanges of conspiracy theories, which I love!

I think it’s only a matter of time before they give Emma her own show based on her blog, so get on board now before she’s a mega superstar!

Coming off the back of an action packed season of Masterchef Australia there’s high expectations for this evolution of the franchise. Expectations have certainly been raised through the selection of Gordon Ramsey as one of the judges.

Ramsey is no stranger to controversy, nor is he renowned for holding back when it comes to critiquing people’s efforts in the kitchen.  In fact, for me it’s part of his charm.  It makes for great reality television, I’d just hate to be on the receiving end of it.

The other two judges are Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich.  When the show first aired I had no idea who these two were.  As the show has continued I still don’t know who they are.  However, they balance Ramsey perfectly.

In the two shows that have aired so far it seems that Joe may just be the cultured version of Ramsey‘s temper.    Where Ramsey goes in swearing and spitting food out, Joe relies on his cold shoulder and disapproving facial expressions.

Surprisingly it has been Joe that’s towed the hard line on contestants.  It’s been a refreshing surprise and counterbalanced the assumptions about Ramsey and his possible judging style.

On the other hand Graham is the soft touch.  Already he has been persuaded by Ramsey to change his vote on a contestant, which makes for emotional television in the early stages but it makes you question his consistency as the show goes on.

The Australian Masterchef was plagued with audience perception of inconsistent judging without having judges back flip on decisions.  Without having interactive judging the audience relies on the judges to be fair and consistent. Experience has shown that get this wrong and the audience will turn rabid.

Decision making style aside this week has seen the end of the selection process and now the real competition begins as they whittle the players down to their top 24.  It’s going to be interesting to see the personalities and cooking styles develop.  I find the first weeks are like watching a F1 Grand Prix, you watch mainly for the hope that there’s an accident.    And that accident involves a knife… or perhaps a mincer.

If I can’t get bodily harm I’ll settle for one of Ramsey‘s outbursts.  Whatever happens I know I’m already addicted.  The question is will you be addicted as well?

Warning: Clip contains expletives.

Ok, this one takes a bit of an explanation. The following video was taken in game while a group was getting ready to run a dungeon in the MMO World of Warcraft.   As you’ll see a lot of planning (aka dicking around) goes into planning how to approach a dungeon for maximum impact and limited loss of life… and then there’s Leroy…. (stick with it, it’s worth it)

This clip has become somewhat of a pop culture legend in the world that is Warcraft.  It’s gotten so viral that there’s in-game references to Leroy Jenkins.  He’s a massive celebrity in the gaming community.  It’s even started to propogate in to other areas of life… hence this week’s chuckles…

Image from icanhazcheeseburger

I literally LOL’d when I saw this.  Now just imagine that this was on the other end of that voice in the first clip.  It’s still making me laugh.

For those of you that aren’t a fan of WoW I also provide a non-gaming LOL

Image from icanhazcheeseburger

I think this cat went to the same attention grabbing school as our beagle!

And because I can’t resist one last WoW reference, I give you Mr T:

Come on… it’s Mr T… I pity the fool that doesn’t laugh at Mr T.

A few months back I was listening to Triple J on a Friday morning and I heard this song on the way to the shops.  I feel in love with it, but as is sometimes want with radio stations I didn’t manage to get the name of the artist nor the song title.  Wah!

I tried in vain that Friday to find the song but alas the internet gods were not with me.  So imagine my happiness when I stumbled across this song while window shopping in iTunes.  Rock on!  And I could finally put a name to the song: Dan Sultan

I immediately purchased the album and have been grooving to it ever since.  Gotta love it when the internet brings you a little bit of joy!

Best thing ever is that he was in Canberra on Saturday night!  Tickets were so ridiculously cheap it would have been a crime to not to go and see him.  The concert was great.  He was so full of energy, which is so rare these days.  The sound was great and he didn’t disappoint.  I even managed to get off my butt and groove a little – which is a big sign of brilliance because I was feeling like poop on a stick.

In a completely rare turn of events his support acts were great too.  So good in fact that I ended up purchasing Gin Wigmore‘s album, ‘Holy Smoke’.   (In a strange turn of events her album cost more than the ticket to get into the concert…)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy today’s music.  If you really do, go and buy the album! Support Australian music, you won’t regret it!

Edit: I have spent all day today dancing at my desk to Gin Wigmore‘s album, ‘Holy Smoke’ so I thought I should share some with you. It’s a BRILLIANT album!!!

This ones for the girls who did the White Star assessment with me tonight – Shona, Ferne, Beth, Nat and Emily. You all rock and I can’t wait to start training with you for our first bout together!

I was singing this song while we were all standing in line in between our assessment tasks. I’d like to say I was as good, if not better, than Jensen but that would be a big fat lie.

I had an awesome night tonight, despite not having skated for five weeks and never having done jumps before.  I passed the endurance part of my test – 20 laps of the track in under 5 minutes.  Everything after that was gravy.

If I pass my white star I’ll start training with the league on Sunday, and then it’ll be training twice a week.  Rock on!

Right now however, I stink and need to get some sleep.

We watched (500) Days Of Summer a few nights ago and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting.  I enjoyed it, but not for the reasons I thought I would.  Ever since we saw it I’ve had this song floating around in my head.

I love a good fart joke and this one’s not bad.  Hope it makes it easier to return to work!

Easter Monday is here and what better way to remember the reason for the season than with this rendition of Amazing Grace.  Whatever your religious beliefs you can’t deny the power and beauty in this song.  Nor can you ignore the powerful voices of the Blind Boy of Alabama.

Today’s Music Monday is dedicated to Miss M who has so graciously lent me Ashes to Ashes.  I loved and devoured Life on Mars and have been wanting to see this series for a long time.  It hasn’t disappointed.  I managed to watch the first series on the weekend and I’m hoping to finish the second series this week.

In true BBC tradition it’s well written, superbly cast and totally addictive.  Oh, and the soundtrack is brilliant.