La Perry is a Cheap Hypocrite

Honestly, I am so glad that I live 10000kms away from this man and his evil empire.

La Perry gives US$1 million to the NAACP and calls himself “blessed to be in a position to give.” (Knowing fully well that he could give so much more.)

I find it so terribly hilarious that many people who publicly express their Christian faith tend to forget that humility is a major theme of the Bible.

Since La Perry just gave NAACP a major donation (by their standards), I don’t fault Julian Bond’s praise of him, but I truly doubt that Bond believes that La Perry “is a courageous pioneer in bringing positive images of African American culture and struggles to the screen.”

La Perry had it rough, no doubt, but 21st Century minstrel shows are in no way positive images.

Oh Yes, It's Coming Back

....the Slaughter on Broadway, aka the The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Post-Mortem, that is.

Given the fact that I'm still not completely acclimatised to [US] Central Time, and that the [US] Today Show has gotten even more inane than what I remember it being in June, the knives are going to be out.

Bring your A-Game, Mr. Peacock.

Meanwhile, here's a thanksgiving themed advert from local supermarket Sentry, posted for no other reason than I find it rather entertaining and appropriate given the subject matter.

A Tale of Two Sex Scandals and One Daft Non-Event

South Australia: The SA Premier does the Aussie version of "I have never had sexual relations with that woman."

Milwaukee: The Police Chief, The Journo, the DA, and a whole bunch of non-sequiturs.

I'm still shocked that John Della Bosca actually got involved in one.

Meanwhile, the dumbest current scandal: Adam Lambert kissed a man on television and thrusts his crotch. When Billy (related to two ex-presidents) Bush calls it a non-event on air, you know the US has grown up since Janet Jackson showing her nipple.

Now for something completely different

GO! is airing of all things Dante's Cove, the softcore gay paranormal serial that airs on here! TV.

It should be noted that GO!'s sister channel, the Nine Network, aired the infamous Chances which mixed T & A with campy subplots.

For no other reason than I want to give the ABC some mention during this post, here is the famous ending sequence to seminal ABC comedy show The Aunty Jack Show.

And some clips from the show proper:

Back North

It’s currently 26C (77F), humid, and the Sun feels like it is about to shoot rays through the back of my skull.

This is not Thanksgiving weather for me. Of course, Thanksgiving is not an Australian holiday (it would be rather odd if it was, given Australian history and climate), so I’m heading back to the US through the end of the month.

Currently in Milwaukee it is 43F (6C) and foggy.

That’s much better.

The Telegraph Gets Nasty

Sam Worthington is one of those “up and coming” actors who one is supposed to know, even if you wouldn’t bother going to their “hot” films.

Probably a decent guy, but his publicist has pissed Uncle Rupert off recently.

It started off rather nicely and cheeky in The Perth Times.

Got a bit chilly and barbed in The Herald Sun.

Now it seems rather full-on icy in today’s Telegraph.

I think Worthington might want to reconsider his representation.

What I Have Learned From Seven’s Police Shows

Border Security: Sydney Airport gets a lot of self-righteous idiots trying to smuggle food and/or drugs into Australia; Brisbane Airport gets a lot of self-righteous con artists trying to sneak into Australia to work; Melbourne Airport gets a self-righteous combination of both.

Highway Patrol: Avoid any P-Plate drivers in Victoria, they’re drunk hoons with suspended licenses.

The Force: Perth has extremely patient cops, drunk teens, robbers, and homeless men; Sydney police really hate counterfeit DVDs.

So in summary: Move to Adelaide or Hobart if you want to do anything dodgy. You’ll likely get caught, but you won’t be on national television.

MC Pooty-Poot

Putin at a rap contest.

It seems so bizarre and yet makes total Machiavellian sense at the same time.

China Struggles With Diversity

An interesting article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, which hopefully will get some traction.

Lou Jing is a 20 year old mixed race (Chinese/Black) Chinese woman who was competing on a Pop Idol style show in Shanghai. Her participation has caused the Chinese public and the Chinese media to look at its own biases towards skin colour.

Reading stories like this often make me take a look at how do I feel as a Black American-Australian.* I came to this country with the preconceived notion that I would stick out severely. I didn’t think of that as a problem—(I’m from Wisconsin!)—but I was prepared for it. Surprisingly, I found Sydney to be extremely diverse. Every day I see people of all shades, including my own, many of whom with an Australian accent to boot.

* An awkward description, but the only one I can think of. According to the last Australian census in 2006 there are 11,798 Australians of African American descent out of a total of 71,718 American-Australians.

Courtesy of YouTube here is a clip of Lou Jing’s appearance on Go! Oriental Girl.

 

Hopefully she will eventually be able to fulfil her dreams and revolutionise her country’s self-perception at the same.

A Tale of Two Countries Part 50

ALP MP calls for curbing immigration from New Zealand.

New Zealand reacts with indifference.

You’re Never Too Young

I was in Wollongong today and saw this advert outside the WIN Entertainment Centre

Australia’s secret to beating the GFC? Child labour.

Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Martin Place

This morning both Sunrise and The Morning Show had MC Hammer of all people on.

Was Hammer so hot that he set Martin Place on fire?

Or was it his desperation of trying to regain some sort of relevance?

The Morning Show did have one redeeming segment--which wasn’t really their own—by showing a clip of Oprah Winfrey interviewing Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. de Rossi’s comments on being a lesbian are particularly notable.

Shockingly, Emdur & Gillies made no reference to the fact that de Rossi is Australian.

Anna Nicole Smith redux

Fortunately or unfortunately Geoffrey Edelsten has no heirs (at least none that seem to be in the public eye), so the Edelsten-Gordon nuptials shouldn’t end in a Federal court.

Nonetheless, it looks like the spirit of Anna Nicole Smith has returned (squeaky voice and all) and is now wreaking havoc and bad taste in Australia. (And we had Chk-chk-boom girl!)

Take a gander at the Garry Marshall directed wedding invite, which has been making the rounds at Seven News today.

For the fashion sensitive, do take a look at what Gordon wore to the Brownlow gala*. (And had Fevola managed to hold it together, she would’ve been the big story, or stories…so to speak.)

* You might want to adjust your speaker volume down for the audio clip.

Skin Rejuvenation?

I was a bit on Sosa’s side yesterday when the picture was released of how his skin has lightened, but the weird explanation today could take me off his band wagon…so to speak.

The explanation? Skin rejuvenation.

A little sleuthing online reveals that this process is mostly to clear up acne scars, sun damage, wrinkles, etc.

Taking a look at the photo again, you’ll see that Sosa’s dark skin appears in May of this year, it also looks relatively clear.

Now, I’m in Australia (and pay attention to the Brewers anyway), but what pray tell happened to this man between May and November to make him “rejuvenate” his skin?

One can only hope it’s not another case of skin bleaching inferiority.

Time will tell, but my gut is telling me that something else is at work.

Time for A "Leave Sammy Alone" campaign?

In this digital age that we live in, one must be a touch sceptical of things, but if one is to believe this article in Yahoo Sports: Sammy Sosa has gotten lighter.

I'm inclined to believe its vitiligo, because if he's intentionally bleaching his skin he will face a wrath akin to a McDonald's franchise at a PETA convention.

Queensland: The Not-So-Smart State?

Much like the US and Canada, each Australian state and territory has a little slogan on their respective license plates: New South Wales is the “first state,” Victoria is “the place to be,” and Queensland has long since been “the Sunshine state.” Recently, Queensland has been trying to upmarket itself as the “Smart state.”

Unfortunately, little cracks seem to be peeking out through the state’s bravado.

Brisbane has achieved the dubious (at least for Queensland) distinction of being the most expensive place to retire, and even regular living is creeping up in terms of cost.

And now their much publicised “best job in the world” campaign hasn’t lured all that many foreigners to Queensland, according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

I’d argue that it’s partly due to the eejit winner they have, but that’s just me, and I’m biased by location.*

* Queensland & New South Wales have a vicious rivalry. Likewise, New South Wales & Victoria. Actually, NSW pretty much doesn’t like any of its neighbours. 

Sunday Jukebox Feels Retro

Perhaps it’s the weather down here, but I think Aki Kara no Summer Time (our summertime that came after autumn) as performed gamely* by Yuuko Nitou seems apropos today. (At least with my out-of-sorts body clock which is still geared for the Northern Hemisphere.)

* Did she just complete a marathon before going onstage or what?

A Broken Clock Part 900

Shockingly, I find myself agreeing with Uncle Rupert vis-a-vis Kevin Rudd…somewhat.

To K-Rudd’s credit, he has done a lot to lift Australia’s international profile, but when it comes down to doing the hard slog at home, he seems content to find any excuse to amble overseas.

As for ETS (emissions trading scheme), it would be great if Rudd or even better Penny Wong, could explain it to the country in plain English. Personally, it sounds like it would work, but it also sounds hatched in CloudCuckooLand.

I surrender

…to Twitterocracy (if that’s the proper term).

I’m going to attempt to keep it updated.

I’m hikarufree on Twitter.

Happy Movember

I’m growing facial hair. Intentionally.

It’s Movember, and the idea is to grow a moustache to draw intention to men’s health awareness.

Here’s a snapshot of what I look like at the moment:

Since I’ve never really let my facial hair grow, I’m going for the beard as well.

It’s itchy, uncomfortable, but it’s for a good cause.

All that said, I wish the 1st of December was tomorrow.