I have been curious about how the media have reacted to the suicide of the well known cricket commentator Peter Roebuck. It reminds me of how people in the arts world treated rumours of molestation on the set of Hey Dad! That’s why I’ve posted these thoughts on my arts and culture blog.
Tony Curtis, one of the true stars from Hollywood’s golden era, has passed away. Not unlike war veterans, their numbers are really dwindling now. It won’t be long before they’re all gone.
He certainly had a mesmerizing quality on screen. As this article states, he was excellent in The Boston Strangler.
It was a very strange movie that - almost an art movie, with lots of snazzy editing including heavy use of a split screen.
It was a clever tactic to use someone that charismatic in the role. It certainly created ambivalence in the audience. I doubt that the real Albert DeSalvo was anywhere near as likable in reality.
The movie also takes huge liberties with the story, presenting the guy almost as a victim suffering from multiple personality disorder.
Still, if you’re as big a star as Tony Curtis you can make the role work. And he did. They don’t make stars like him anymore!
Like many using Tumblr, I’m heavily into blogging, and have tried several different platforms over the years.
Needless to say, Tumblr is an excellent tool. And if you haven’t had a look at Posterous yet, then you definitely should. Onsugar is another user-friendly blogging site well worth checking out.
Here in Australia there’s been a lot of talk about how former Labor leader Mark Latham did a spot as a reporter last Sunday night. He was almost universally derided for the segment.
However, I thought Latham’s Sixty Minutes gig wasn’t all bad.
Most of the stories we read about celebrities’ relationships are pretty depressing. They’re always breaking up or betraying each other. And whenever a fan enters the life of someone famous, it’s usually as a stalker.
That’s why it’s kind of sweet to learn that Butch Patrick, the child actor who played Eddie Munster, ended up dating a fan who wrote him a letter 45 years ago.
That said, the first meeting decades after their first contact must have been an odd experience. And I can’t help wondering if he was still wearing that wig …
Here’s a very lively debate between two Australian women diametrically opposed politically. They represent the Australian Sex Party and Family First, respectively.
It’s feisty, fast-paced and very entertaining. This is what you have in an open, democratic society in which women are free to express themselves and pursue their ideals.
Amazing that feminists still complain that women are oppressed by some mysterious patriarchy in the western world, yet are largely silent when it comes to the treatment of women in Islamic societies.
Would anything like what you see in this video ever be possible in, say, Afghanistan under the Taliban?
The daughter of respected American actor Laurence Fishburne has acted (if that’s the right word!) in a porno. Not surprisingly, he is not very happy about her decision.
She says that she didn’t do it to hurt her father. Of course it’s possible that she just did it without thinking. But she must have known it was going to hurt him. He’s a very well known man; her actions were sure to make headlines and damage his reputation.
I suspect there was some deep-seated resentment towards him in her decision, even if she doesn’t admit to it.
My jaw nearly hit the floor when I heard that Kristy Fraser-Kirk was suing David Jones for a massive $37 million because she was allegedly sexually harassed by the company’s former CEO.
Rather than highlight the problem the astronomical claim trivializes it, in my opinion. While she may have gone through some unpleasantness it was pretty mild in comparison to what is described in other sexual harassment cases, and a lot less severe than the suffering of rape victims. Needless to say these victims never ask for such massive compensation, let alone win it.
It looked like Ms Fraser-Kirk was desperately trying to draw attention to herself more than anything else. Just a publicity stunt, really.
Here’s a good Miranda Devine article in which she makes a similar point, and others.
One site that often gets compared to Tumblr is Posterous. So to try that tool out I’ve started a blog there.
My first impressions are that it’s also very simple and user-friendly, Tumblr has more elegant design. It’s just more enjoyable using a site that is so user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
I’ve had a bit of a change of heart about this site. I started out with the purpose of just linking to quirky and interesting articles. But I think I might start to use it in a more freewheeling way and just write about anything and everything.
