Brothers & Sisters

I've started to re-watch the fantastic Brothers & Sisters on DVD and, even though I am only a few episodes in it's amazing how high the quality of this show is.
Bring on season 2 I say.
A couple of interesting special features including an episode not seen before that was supposed to be the second episode of the series. Also it was amusing to watch Matthew Rhys (pictured) interviewed. He does an American accent so well you wouldn't know he's actually Welsh.
It really is a laugh to listen to him. I reckon he's just about the best character in the show.
I also picked up Transformers this week and have finished watching Love My Way season 3. I'm loving series 2 of Heroes (supposedly fast-tracked from the USA) as well. From that you'd think all I do is watch TV, I assure you it's not the case!

The week ahead

We're coming into November and the early part of that month is always busy in my industry.
Yep, it is nine days until the Melbourne Cup and thus the start of two excellent weeks in racing starting with Derby Day this Saturday coming.
Having tipped the Cox Plate winner I'm pretty happy so now it's on to Flemington.
I have to admit it is a bit surreal this year with no racing in Sydney due to the EI outbreak but hopefully we are only a month or so away from a resumption. Normality will take a bit longer.
I don't know about others but I find the first day or so of daylight saving to be an adjustment. Things just feel a bit weird. I like the extra light in the evening and the extra darkness in the morning.

Good Luck Chuck

Think There's Something About Mary and you're in the right ball park.
Good Luck Chuck is a laugh out loud comedy about a guy who was cursed as a child to never find true love.
Since a fateful game of spin the bottle, Charlie (Dane Cook) is doomed to always be the guy before the right guy, so much so he is deemed to be a lucky charm.
When he meets Cam (Jessica Alba) he is no longer satisfied by endless one night stands.
This is not the best movie going around, you know that from the very start, but it also makes things clear at the beginning what type of movie you're in for.
If you liked Mary, you'll like Chuck. Simple as that.
The humour is crude, at times a bit too crude, and it doesn't hold anything back. There's also some graphic scenes and at least one scene I've never seen in a feature mainstream film. But, bottom line, it's a great laugh. If you expect lowbrow comedy you won't be disappointed.
But don't, whatever you do, attend this movie with your girlfriend or someone who could potentially be. It's a guy film. Grab a couple of mates and have a laugh.
A 7 out of 10, it was just that funny.

Strange day

It was certainly an interesting day.
Silly arguments, resignation threats, over-reaction, drama - not your typical Friday.
I should know better by know but I just couldn't help but bite today and things spiralled in a scary direction from there. So far did things get out of hand I at one point threatened to leave my job on impulse as I was frustrated with the way events unfolded today. Not for one second did I give thought to what I would do had I gone through with it.
In short I learned a lesson and was given some advice that could be very timely. I tend to get concerned about things that are out of my control at work whereas I should be concentrating on my work and letting other people worry about themselves.
Maybe it was just the end of a big week and people were a bit out of sorts. TGIF, hey.
Let's hope we're (especially me) all over it by Monday.

Did the Chaser go too far?

A lot of column centimetres and air time has been taken up by the Chaser's `Eulogy Song' from the other night where they poked fun at a host of personalities who have passed on.
Their point was that people who weren't exactly squeaky clean are made out to be perfect, or `top blokes', after death. I think mostly that point is probably correct but who is squeaky clean really?
Most of the outrage will tell you that the song was offensive. I didn't find it offensive but then again I'm not close to anyone mentioned in the lyrics so have no personal attachment to it. What I can comment on is that it wasn't particularly funny. I got a laugh or two but overall the song was pretty poor if they were truly trying to be funny.
To re-raise a point I made a while back, is the Chaser team slipping? They seem to be going for cheap jokes in place of things that require some thought. I think they might be trying too hard to be outrageous.
As far as I'm concerned they haven't crossed the line but I'd be more concerned about them falling over the edge of being considered not funny any more.

Welcome back Kylie

A slight change of direction but the new Kylie single 2 Hearts is definitely a grower.
Nice to see some guitars and a different sound and if this is something like what we can expect from her new album then it will be very well received.
Welcome back, Kylie.

Hairspray

Musicals are very hit and miss at the best of times.
Hairspray is very much a hit. Set in the 1960s where impossibly wholesome looking people weren't as wholesome as they looked and where integration was a dirty word.
John Travolta might have top billing in this infectious musical, playing a woman well but not well enough that you don't laugh everytime he says something, but the star of the show is Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad. She doesn't fit in. She's overweight and short and unpopular but she loves to dance.
She's impossibly happy and effervescent and has something about her that just makes you smile. Michelle Pheiffer, doing her best Lara Flynn Boyle impersonation, is far too thin but suitably bitchy as Velma Von Tussle, producer of the Corny Collins Show. James Marsden is Collins and Tracy wants desperately to dance on his show, even though she would stand out and not in a good way.
Then there's Zac Efron as the dreamboat Link Larkin. I'm sorry but he's far too good looking for anyone's liking but such is the incredible nature of Hairspray it doesn't seem to matter that it is weird and unlikely how he falls in love with Tracy so quickly.
Basically this film is a hoot. You laugh at John Travolta (more at him but a little with him I suspect), your feet can't help but tap to the music and the singing, and it's just a great load of fun.
One of the most surprising films of the year, guaranteed to make you smile and leave the cinema feeling good. As much as I like a good drama, sometimes it's necessary to have a stick of candy. A very entertaining 7.5 out of 10.

Silly season begins

After weeks and weeks of a faux election campaign the real one has begun.
So we have six weeks of politicians telling us what they promise to do IF elected. After what we've been through with the NSW Government and its debacle after debacle it makes it hard to want to swallow anything these guys throw at us.
One of them will win and very little will change, most likely.
My mind for the election was made up five seconds after I voted in the previous election. Actually, as I was voting for the previous election. So unless someone can guarantee to make me a millionaire or have a superpower, or something like that, my vote ain't changing.
Bring on November 24, if for no other reason that we can have fewer politicians misleading us to our faces.

Still Feels Good - the review

It's the long awaited (if you can call a couple of months long awaited) fifth album from US country rock group Rascal Flatts

and they are still in good form.
On first couple of listens this isn't as instantly likeable as Me And My Gang was with a powerhouse opening track and several real stand outs.
Still Feels Good is a bit less out there than its predecessor. It's more in the vein of Feels Like Today, the album prior to M&MG. More ballad focused, I guess.
Now I will never knock a good ballad and there is something about the country ballad that seems more heartfelt than your pop/rock song.
The opening track is Take Me There and it is a solid enough opener, the title track is a nice song as is Winner At A Losing Game.
A couple of comparably very different ballads close the album with How Strong Are You Know, a break-up song, and It's Not Supposed To Go Like That, a stirring story of young lives lost. I've always disliked country music, at least until I came across the Flatts, but there really is something about it that has more depth than pop (though some would argue that wouldn't be hard).
Incidentally, this is my 400th post. I think it is fitting that it is a review of a new CD by one of my favourite bands.

It's time....

D-day is fast approaching. Keeping an open mind.

Rush Hour 3

Lets just hope it ends here. Rush Hour 3 was okay but it just looked tired.
Again Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker return as the odd couple detective team and you can't help but wonder why Lee (Chan) would want to have anything to do with Carter (Tucker) after the first two movies.
That aside, Chan isn't as young as he used to be and you can really tell in this one just by the amount of stunts he's involved in (or not involved in to be more to the point).
Chan didn't really look like he wanted to be there. Either that or the script was that thin.
On the plus side it is still entertaining, though not as consistent as the earlier ones, and there are a few very good action scenes (one in particular involving a cab and a couple of motorcycles).
The highlight for me was the French taxi driver who hates Americans. He was great fun.
Rush Hour 3 has its moments, is a bit of fun and really its just on 90 minutes. You can do much worse. But it has nothing on the earlier films and any other film of its genre I have seen this year. Plus Chris Tucker is really annoying. A 6 out of 10 and let's hope that is the end for Rush Hour.

Is the Chaser jumping the shark?

Since I became acquainted with The Chaser's War On Everything from the end of their last series I have found the show extremely funny.
However, since they have become more widely known they seem to be losing their edge.
Not as consistently funny, some of the skits are so obviously badly set up and everyone knows who they are so they aren't able to ambush people as easily as before.
They do have their moments. Tonight's rave party bit at the end was great. But it took about 10 minutes or so before I managed an out-loud laugh. (I really love the Crazy Warehouse Guy and there isn't enough of him lately).
After the APEC stunt (which was hilarious and scary at the same time) they are in the limelight and that's detrimental to their show. I smell the money from Channel 7 being too good to refuse for what I fear could be a sinking ship.
Love the show boys but am very concerned.

Acupuncture

I'm currently half way through a six week stint of acupuncture and I've got to say the guy doing it has worked some minor wonders.
He's been concentrating on energy and digestion and it seems to be working. I'm not feeling anywhere near as tired as I used to and the stomach action isn't nearly as annoying.
I'm doing six weeks then re-evaluating it with a view to possibly continuing it.
While I have done acupuncture before it hasn't been consistent and that might be the difference. Either that or the person doing it before wasn't doing it right.
I came across this guy by chance, it's amazing.

One Tree season 5 trailer

I haven't finished season 4 yet, not even half way through, but the trailer for OTH season 5 is just awesome.
Rather than just follow the usual path to college and therefore fade into mediocrity, One Tree Hill skips college and picks up four years later. Genius. And also leaving a lot of stories untold. Bring on the DVD release of season 4!!!! And then bring on season 5 of the best show on TV (that's not actually on TV in Australia, but what do Channel 10 know anyway).

Rush Of Fools

I've come across a good Christian band called Rush Of Fools and they are well worth checking out.
I spotted their debut album in a catalogue and went online to check out a couple of songs. Naturally I now have the album.
The opening track Undo is a good indication of what you're going to get with this American band.
The lyrics, after one listen, are meaningful and God-centred (largely). Again just one the sole listen my favourite tracks are Undo, Your Love, All We Ever Needed, For Those and Already.

Go here to read about the meaning behind the songs. I find this helpful from time to time and you can see where they are coming from.

Some lyrics to Undo:

``I've been here before and here I am again, Standing at the door, praying you'll let me back in

To label me a prodigal would be only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be.

Turn me around, pick me up, Undo what I've become. Bring me back to the place of forgiveness and grace. I need You, need Your help I can't do this myself, you're the only one who can undo what I've become...'

Check them out.

It's about time

Well today the Iemma Government finally announced a financial assistance package for the horse (not just racing) industry - around $7 million! This pales in comparison to Queensland's assistance for its industry of four times that amount - and NSW has the largest number of people affected.
Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.
This Government is really showing itself as very uncaring and self-interested and the opposition should take notice. I've only ever voted for the opposition once and that was when I was in a safe seat of theirs and couldn't see the point in voting against them. But Iemma and co's response to this crisis (and they still want to hold World Youth Day at Randwick, but don't get me started on that) has me absolutely livid.
They really have no idea - hospitals, public transport, toll roads, public roads. They can't get those right now they aid in crippling the racing industry, a sector which provides hundreds of millions of dollars to their coffers. Guess what the money is used for, well some of it, that's right roads, hospitals, schools etc etc.
The flow on effect is going to be savage. But they don't care, do they.