They Come From a Land Down Under

Here's a taste of the music I've been enjoying on our local radio stations. These are Australian artists, though maybe some of their work has been played overseas. Anyway, the songs are damn catchy:

"Broken Leg" by Bluejuice - a rock band based in Sydney, Australia. This video has an OK GO vibe to it (remember "Here It Goes Again" on the treadmill?). Still, impressive jump roping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJAWLfdkapQ


"Like it Like That" by Guy Sebastian - Originally from Malaysia but moved to Melbourne as a child, Sebastian is Australia's first Australian Idol winner. This song, in my opinion, was the "Say Hey (I Love You)" by Michael Franti and Spearhead of Australia this year. It was on every television show, incessantly played on the radio and constantly stuck in my head...Just like "Say Hey."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS5mzKTvdJk


"All of the Dreamers" by Powderfinger - Here's one more noteable song from one of the most popular groups to form in Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhKAhyP8qKI


More to come...

Hamish & Andy

For those of you that aren't familiar with the hilarious duo, here's a quick rundown of Hamish Blake and Andy Lee. The two met while studying commerce at the University of Melbourne, and entered comedy competitions. Since then they've had successful radio talk shows, often appeared on tv late night show Rove and more recently has appeared on Jay Leno's Tonight show (the first time he had the show, not the upcoming Tonight Show which he stole from Conan).

In short, they are our favorite Aussie celebs and crack us up daily. I'm sure you'll enjoy them too:

Lack of Diversity in the Media...oh, and Doppelgängers!

A few people on facebook this week have put up the status: "Doppelgänger week: during this week please change your profile picture to someone famous (actor, musician, athlete) you have been told you look like."

It's been pretty entertaining to see who individuals have been told they look like. Hopefully no one is taking these look alike comments as an insult; it's all in good fun. Anyway, I decided to find some Doppelgängers of my friends. My first attempts didn't go as well as I'd hoped seeing as how there's just such a broad pool of celebrities to choose from, so I enlisted the help of Leah. With her aid, we narrowed things down to a few decent photos. (Again, please don't be offended. I'm sure there are other actors, musicans, or athletes that you resemble more closely - and obviously you are much better looking - but this is the best we could do with our short attention spans.)

By far the easiest person to start with was Kate pictured below on the left. A year or two ago, it was mentioned that she looked like Princess Beatrice daughter of Sarah Ferguson -Duchess of York pictured on the right. I think the photo speaks for itself:

Also Kate, it was really difficult to find a photo of just you - so this is the lucky one I chose.

The next couple are more of a stretch: Doppelgänger's Jenny (on the left) and actress Elizabeth Moss from TVs Mad Men (on the right).

Third up is Sara (left) and her Doppelgänger child star actress Tina Majorino (right). You may remember her from roles like Corrina, Corrina, Andre, or Waterworld. More recently she's been in HBO's Big Love and the new ABC show The Deep End. Sara's also been told before that she looks like Saved By the Bell's Kelly Kapowski played by Tiffany Theissen, better know by her three part name Tiffany Amber Theissen, who is shown on the bottom. So, just to clarify, I put up a picture of Tiffany Amber Theissen and then directly next to it is a photo of her as Tiffany Theissen. Can you spot how the removal of the second name makes her a more serious and dramatic actress?

This last one only kind of counts, mostly because they only look alike when dressed up in costume. So here is Leah/Frieda Kahlo. Also pictured below is Leah with bangs, glasses (and if she decided to sport some braces or an ugly poncho) she might be comparable to America Ferera.

Haha sorry for choosing this pic sis, but I don't have any others of just you with your bangs and wearing glasses.

So, we were able to think of these Doppelgängers relatively quickly. Then we tried to think of a few more for, oh how should I put it, our ethnic friends. Yeah...we drew a blank. So, we thought some more. Huh, not easy. Why was it so difficult? The answer is simply this: because there is a smaller pool of people to choose from. Sorry to the other girls, no clue who your Doppelgänger is. We couldn't really think of one for me either. I Once had a 4th grader tell me that I look like Vanessa Hudgens, but I think that's just because she loved High School Musical and Hudgens was the only person she could think to identify me to. Anyway, in conclusion, trying to find Doppelgängers of all my friends proved to be more difficult than I originally perceived it to be, and I'm going to go ahead and blame that on the lack of diversity in Hollywood and in the media in general.

On a more serious note, one can imagine how it would be harder for little boys and girls who look differently to find someone to look up to as a role model in the media (whether that be an actor, musician, politician, athlete, etc.). You could say that we have an African American president, a recently appointed Latina US Supreme Court justice, or that Disney has done a better job creating strong, more diverse princesses in the past decade or two, but how many more similar instances can you cite when compared Caucasian presidents, Supreme Court Justices or even Disney princesses for that matter.

I suppose at least this demonstrates progress in terms of diversity as a whole in this country, but if I had a difficult time coming up with a few Doppelgängers, imagine how it must feel for entire groups of underrepresented ethnic communities.

Not sure where this blog took a political turn...it started as a fun look alike blog. I think I was just frustrated I couldn't find my own Doppelgänger and it went downhill from there...

An Example of How I Reassure & Advise Friends...

jenny32186@gmail.com: im scared to go to sleep because of my ghost

me: How do you know its a scary ghost?

jenny32186@gmail.com: it came to me this morning and i could feel its presence and it made a swishing noise

me: It could be a nice one, maybe it just wants to make its presence known

jenny32186@gmail.com: its still scarrrry

me: acknowledge it and then maybe it'll go away.

jenny32186@gmail.com: do i have to out loud? or can it read this

me: it couldn't hurt

jenny32186@gmail.com: ok i whispered i know you are there ghost now what

me: say "you can go now"

jenny32186@gmail.com: ok next

me: fuck if I know, hopefully that does something. How long has it been there?

jenny32186@gmail.com: well ive known it was there since i first moved in but now its making itself really known

me: Maybe there's something it wants you to do?

jenny32186@gmail.com: like what solve a murder?

me: maybe just move something around

jenny32186@gmail.com: like furniture?

me: or find something that's hidden?

jenny32186@gmail.com: like their body?!

me: I was thinking more like a piece of jewelery.

jenny32186@gmail.com: oh yes maybe

me: An old lady broach is what I was going for, some sort of heirloom.

jenny32186@gmail.com: are they giving it to me like they want me to be rich

me: sure, why not? I'm really not an expert, most of my knowledge of this topic is coming from the 6th Sense. Good movie, so maybe there is some good advice in there somewhere.

jenny32186@gmail.com: would that mean im dead though cause i see dead people? isnt the main person already dead

me: no, if you've got a buddy like Bruce Willis, he's dead. You're the very much alive Haley Joel Osment.

jenny32186@gmail.com: ooooh ok

me: I wouldn't worry about it. You've most likely got an old lady ghost, probably a nana type. She just wants you to find her gaudy jewelery and make sure you're eating well and staying healthy.

jenny32186@gmail.com: hoppppefully


Will Jenny will solve a mystery or inherit some priceless jewelery? Only time will tell. To be continued...

Shows I'd Like to See

With the crazy NBC Leno vs. Conan skirmish going on, I'm a tad concerned I'll never get a chance to see Conan O'Brien live during a Tonight Show taping. Actually, I really wanted to see him before he moved an hour earlier, but I'd be satisfied with the Tonight Show. Since he's getting the axe, it got me thinking about the other live shows I'd like to see a taping of. Turns out I've got a longer list than I thought I would....and I don't know if I'll get to cross many off my list any time soon.

- The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien - I became a Conan fan in high school. Leah and I attempted to stand in line to get tickets during a trip to NY, but unfortunately plenty of people had the same idea and the ability to get out of bed earlier. Things aren't looking too good for my favorite ginger. I don't know if I'll ever see the string cut dance live. Good luck Conan. You go Glenn COCO!

- The Late Show with David Letterman - Top Ten, Will it Float?, Know Your Current Events (winners sometimes received slabs of meat), Great Moments in Presidential Speeches (obviously a Dubya era sketch) , his great one-liners ("I wouldn't give that guy's problems to a monkey on a rock!" - what does that even mean? Who cares?), his laugh "he-HEEE," etc. Do you think anyone else could have dealt with the Joaquin Phoenix interview as well as he did?


- NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - I listen to Wait Wait every week and I have no idea what host Peter Sagal and announcer Carl Kasell (who's voice I someday hope to record as my voice mail outgoing message) look like. Of course I could just Google image them, but where's the fun in that? The only voice I can put a face to is 80s/early 90s comedienne Paula Poundstone. All I can really remember of her is her masculine style of dress and getting arrested for something. In any case, this is a show not to be missed. "Am I right, ladies?" (I'm assuming that was Poundstone's type of stand up...)

Somewhat unrelated: Did you know that two German brothers started a shoe company, but later split up and became rivals? The siblings became the founders of their own respective shoe companies, Adidas and Puma. It forced everyone in their town to pick a side: Puma vs. Adidas. Crazy, huh? Just one of the great tidbits you can gather from Wait Wait.

- The Daily Show with Jon Stuart - This is the guy that keeps "real news" in check (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122375199) AND he's hilarious! They say my generation gets a majority of its knowledge of current events from programs like the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. Maybe it's a bit irresponsible, but can you blame us? MSNBC and FOX News are often just as big of a joke. Stewart calls it like he sees 'em, he's not afraid to say when Democrats are being weak pushovers and Republicans are being douchebags, AND everyone is a senior correspondent of something (soooo legit!).

- Hairspray - Such a great musical. Can't think of one number I wouldn't love. Wish I saw it when Harvey Fierstein was still in it. Pathetically, I've watched almost the entire show from someone's bootleg phone recording that was uploaded onto YouTube.

- Oprah (Favorite Things episode if possible) - NOOO not you too Oprah. Canceled? Say it ain't so. I want free shit and a cashmere sweater and a car; I'll even take an Oprah book club book, I'm not picky. But I hear you're getting your own network [insert Oprah hand grab, "Good for you! Good for you!"].

- Ellen - So I can dance and, again, walk away with some SWAG. 12 Days of Give-a-ways would be ideal.

- SNL - This one barely made the list because the current cast is pretty weak. Nevertheless, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig still manage to carry the show (keep in mind I haven't seen any of this season. NBC/Hulu doesn't allow their online videos to air outside the U.S.)

Last, but certainly not least:

- EGOT - As Tracy Morgan's 30 Rock character awesomely displayed via his bling - "EGOT" meaning "Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony." One substitution I would make, however, would be to replace Grammy with a Golden Globe show. The Grammys are a little trashy nowadays, and as much as I enjoy music, I don't really care to see rappers and country signers thank god for 4 hours. This switch, according to my own personal rules, is clearly legal since the letter G is still represented.

In case you were wondering who has managed to score an EGOT, here's a list: http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/12/04/who-has-an-egot/

So if anyone can help me in terms of attendance to any of these shows, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. If not, no worries, I'll make it there eventually...or, like most viewers, just continue to watch these shows on television.

Home: "It's not something you can just run away from like a hotel bill or a crying baby."

I haven't been blogging much, but was inspired to write something since Nicole seems to be a blogging maniac and is keeping up with hers (Nicole, if you read that, this is meant to be a compliment. You are committed blogger - a skill worth admiring). Well, I am getting close to hitting the 4 month mark down under and sever homesickness has just begun to rear its ugly head. The novelty of doing touristy things has worn off. I got through the holiday season pretty easily because there were tons of fun events going on to keep me occupied, but now that that's over and I'm not as distracted, I have more time to think about my friends and family at home.

I'm sad I missed my sister opening her gifts this year. I got her the box set of Will and Grace (a present I knew she would love). For the first time I actually managed to keep it a secret and surprise her; being halfway around the world probably helped. We have a tendency to mess up surprises. Anytime my sister tries to buy me a decent present, I some how ruin it. She knows me well and clearly is aware of items I would like and purchase for myself. Often I'll be on the verge of buying something and she'll have to interject and tell me not to. Why?? I ask. Surprise is ruined. It's because she's already bought it for me as a gift. example: Killer Tofu Tour of '96 t-shirt. If you grew up in the 80's or 90's you might understand that one.

If I told my dad this, I know he'd tell me that I'm having a once in a lifetime experience and that I need to embrace my time away and enjoy every minute it. I love him for thinking that, but sometimes it's hard. I miss my parents, friends at home and the sister. I talk to her practically every day either on gchat or skype, but its not the same as sitting in the same room as her laughing over inside jokes. Not going to lie, we're pretty fucking hilarious. But you probably already knew that.

If I've learned anything so far during my travels it's this, sometimes it's good to get away, try new things, go to new places (in fact, it's a necessity), but I imagine that it will feel really good to get back. WARNING! Super cliche moment next: family is the most important thing, blah blah blah etc., how pathetic, but it's all true. I must remember to enjoy the time I spend here as well as the time I have with them when I get back because shortly after my return home, I will embark on another adventure by taking an AmeriCorps job in Massachusetts.

This blog was not meant to come off as sounding unappreciative, though perhaps it has. I feel really blessed to have had many of the experiences I've gone through so far. I'm sure this feeling will curb itself soon. We are planning on going to the Gold Coast for a week (Surfers Paradise) next month which I am really excited about. Still working on getting in a week or so in New Zealand during March.

Okay, that's enough emo bs for one blog. Unrelated: many people here seem to believe that style has reverted back to the late 80's/early 90's. More specifically, a Saved by the Bell episode. Where's a slap bracelet when you need one? Pretty sure it'll be the next trend to re-popularize itself. As much as it might be in style, I can't bring myself to do it...no, no, brightly colored stirrup tights are a thing of my past. And that's where they will stay.

Say What?

So I’ve been in Australia for three months now and worked as a temp receptionist at Cisco - St. Leonards for almost a month and a half. During this time, I’ve had a wide variety of conversations with my co-workers and have picked up some new words (be forewarned, I’m taking a total stab at the spelling here):

Aussie - pronounced ozzy. I just put this one up because I think it relates to the next few words.

Mozzie - mosquitos

Cozzie - bathing suit

Prozzie - prostitute

(I’m convinced they’re just very patriotic and want their words to end with the same sound as aussie)

Bogon - white trash

Sunnies - sun glasses

Arvo - afternoon

Lollies - candy

Macca’s - McDonalds

Acca Dacca - AC/DC

Pressie - present

Ganga - sluts

Fringe - bangs (as in hair)

Entrée - In Australia the entrée is the first course or appetizer. Confuse me? At home this is the main course.

The usuals:

G’day: Hello/Good day

Barbie: Barbecue

Mate: friend

More words to come…