Aussie Bloggers

This Sunday night Dexter will premiere on Channel Ten - yes, it is finally arriving on Australian free to air television. It’s only a couple of years late - the third season of Dexter is filming right now and is due to air in the states in September this year.

So for those of you new to the show, what can you expect? First up, let us state that this is not a show for the faint hearted. During the day Dexter is a blood spatter expert for the Miami police department. At night time, he is a serial killer - with a difference. He only kills serial killers. You could make the argument that he is actually saving lives. At the same time, killing is wrong, right? That is where the show gets interesting.

If you like your television bland and your characters black and white, Dexter won’t be for you. Michael C Hall said of Dexter - “A lot of times we see somebody with a black hat, somebody wearing a white hat, and he’s got a big ten gallon grey hat, which I like.” Sometimes there may be scenes which are a little scary, some might even say slightly gory, but certainly nothing worse than what you’d see on CSI. And of course given Dexter’s job, you’re going to see blood. Sometimes just a little bit, sometimes quite a lot of it.

There is a lot of great music in the show - from the jaunty theme tune which plays during the opening credits to more haunting themes and a lot in between. The first time I saw this series I would wake up at night hearing the music in my head. In this show the music is almost a character along with the cast.

Speaking of the cast, most of them will probably look unfamiliar to you to begin with even though a large percentage of the cast have been in many and varied shows previously. One person you’re likely to recognise if you are a Sex and The City fan is James Remar - who played Richard Wright in Sex and The City, one of Samantha’s favourite men.

In Dexter he is Harry Morgan, Dexter’s father who plays a huge role in Dexter’s life.

Rita Bennett, played by Julie Benz - Dexter’s sweet and trusting girlfriend. Rita has two kids - Astor and Cody - and an ex-husband who is currently in jail for what he did to her.

Debra Morgan, played by Jennifer Carpenter - Dexter’s sister who is a police officer. Debra works in the vice department and has legs up to her eyebrows but her dream is to become a homicide detective.

Lt. Maria Laguerta, played by Lauren Vélez - the always stunningly dressed lieutenant of the homicide department. Watch out for her sparkly lipstick, layered jewelery, salon fresh hair, fancy shoes and tailored suits.

Angel Batista, played by David Zayas - the detective with a heart of gold. He loves the Miami nightlife, and his wife. Aww. If you had to choose a policeman to help you, Angel would probably be the one.

Vincent Masuka, played by C. S. Lee - a forensic expert with his mind in the gutter who loves to drool over Dexter’s sister.

By the end of the first episode, Dexter will have introduced you to everyone near and dear to him - as well as those not so dear. You’ll get to know him a little. Will you like him? Will you tune in next time? Let us know in our new thread dedicated to Dexter Discussion.

Pile mum, dad, the kids and the dog (if you have one) into the car along with a boot full of gear and you have a classic Australian way of holidaying - the Road Trip.

My husband and I are rather partial to taking Road Trips. There’s a certain feeling of freedom and hope as the car pulls out of the drive and the whole trip lays spread before you like a tantalizing buffet of fun and frivolity.

I’m not sure why I like them so much. I remember as a child the cramped conditions in the back of the car when my younger brother insisted that he needed to take up half of our back seat, irrespective of the fact that there were 3 of us sitting back there. The ongoing fights over where the “line” on the seat should be and who got to have their stuff on which part of the floor. Dad yelling at everyone to be quiet as he couldn’t hear the car engine if something would go wrong.

There is nothing like six people crammed into a car on a 47 degree day with no air conditioning. Stopping at every town to let the overheated engine cool off. Drinking luke warm water because that’s all we had. Eating soggy cucumber sandwiches with crusts that had dried out where the glad wrap didn’t quite overlap.

The fighting and squabbles, the “when are we going to get there’s” and mum singing loudly and very out of tune in an effort to keep everybody from killing one another.

And as the only girl in the family, having to “squat” behind bushes when toiletry needs came up because dad wasn’t stopping in the town where everyone would start asking for ice creams and cold drinks.

Now, weren’t those the days?

Of course, road trips as a parent are so different aren’t they?

We have the luxury of an air conditioned car along with a plug in fridge that keeps drinks cool. My husband is kind enough to stop at facilities when I need them so no more squatting behind a bush wondering if I’m visible from the road.

Instead I have everything AND the kitchen sink crowded at my feet just in case someone needs it. Tissues, towels, paper towel, drinks, books, stickers, food…. you name it and it can generally be found somewhere around my feet. No idea where my feet are… but everything else is here.

A constant crick in my neck and cramp in my side from contortioning myself into the strangest of positions to reach back to the children behind me as they ask for this, that and the other. Mopping up spilled drinks, trying to get a half chewed minty out of someone’s hair and hoping the mice don’t decide to have a feast on the mixture of twisties, apple cores and bread crusts dropped on the back floor.

Adjudacating arguments, answering a plethora of questions about how much further and drawing short straws to see who gets the reprieve of driving (because we all know the front seat passenger job is SO much harder than the drivers).

Perhaps it was no surprise that we were met with many a raised eyebrow upon people discovering our plans to drive the 3000km from our home to Darwin with a 4 year old and an 18 month old in the backseat.

“They say it’s just as cheap to fly you know”

“Have you looked into flying?”

“Do you know how FAR it is to Darwin?”

Were just some of the helpful suggestions we were given.

C’mon people’s, where is your sense of adventure?

There’s no fun in flying.

We wanted to SEE the parts of Australia we were to travel through, not simply fly over the top.

“But the Centre of Australia is SO BORING” people warned us.

Not to us it wasn’t. I think the amazing diversity of this great country of ours is fascinating. And I don’t want to miss any of it.

On this day 6 years ago we visited Ayers Rock on our way up to Darwin.

* image courtesy of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Uluru-wikipedia.jpg

The experience was nothing short of mindblowing.

To be driving along and come around a bend and be met by this mammoth monolith rising up out of the ground and seemingly reaching the sky was an experience neither of us will forget. And experience we would not have had if we’d flown directly to Darwin. In fact, our days were filled with reminders of why we were taking a Road Trip.

Sure, there are times when everyone gets frustrated with one another and the tediousness of getting to where we want to go. But we always view our trips as starting when we pull out of the driveway and not starting when we reach our destination.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 6 years since our last Road Trip. No wonder I’m getting itchy feet to get out on the road again.

What about you? Are you a fan of the road trip? Or do you prefer to avoid them at all costs?

According to the Sydney Morning Herald - scroll down, it is the second story on the page - Jodhi Meares won’t be bothering to show up for tonight’s live finale. She’ll be joining the rest of us on the couch to watch it from home. Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson will be covering for her.

Never fear, we will be live blogging the *not* entirely live final here on the blog. So cuddle up with your Demelza voodoo doll and a large supply of pins, as there is a 50% chance she will win this, therefore proving the rule that beyotches always triumph, especially in the fashion world.

Back in about 15 for the sort of live event!

And we’re back. Jodhi’s voice reads us some very dodgy poetry while we recap the series. Then she appears in a pre-filmed segment and then Charlotte appears to apologise that Jodhi can’t be there. She’s wearing some odd dress by Alex Perry which she seems to have been poured into.

And what the heck is Napoleon wearing? Charlotte asks the panel if they’ve made up their mind and they pretend like they haven’t. Unfortunately I have - after they kicked out Sam who was my favourite and Alex did a terrible performance for Malan Breton stumbling around in those heels, I think Demelza is probably going to win.

The girls are brought out one by one and wow, look at Sam! Alex looks great - Demelza looks a little odd. Could be all that weight she lost.

If the viewers decide I am sure that it won’t be Demelza - she has truly ruined this show for most of the viewers with her bitchy nastiness. However she has apparently lost quite a bit of weight. She says “you know” a lot.

Alex has dyed her hair away from the red. Apparently Alex has found out that she has scoliosis (hope I spelled that right) and she’s been working with people about that.

Charlotte addresses the bullying. Slap her hard, Charlotte! Or not. Demelza pretends like she wants to apologize but she’s rolling her eyes when she’s talking so it seems completely like excrement to me - she does apologize to Alamela publicly. And Charlotte doesn’t seem convinced either.

Now Charlotte gives Alex a bit of nastiness over the food sabotage but it doesn’t last long either. I have to say it is very difficult to look at Charlotte in that dress - I need sunglasses, it is very glary! Here’s hoping she is changing during the ad break.

So I think they made a huge mistake kicking off Sam because she looks incredible - way better than Demelza. Now they have Charlotte sitting in a bizarre chair which looks like it should be involved in S & M. Demelza has lost a lot of weight in her face.

Bowie Wong liked Alex better and booked her. But they also booked Demelza. Wayne Cooper books Alex and not Demelza. She doesn’t peel off his face with her fingernails - lucky Wayne! And then Demelza does a crying. Nope, I don’t feel sorry for her, not one bit.

Then they go to Bec and Bridge who book Demelza, not Alex. Then off to Alex Perry who books Demelza and Alex. They’re dead even. Then they go to Silence Is Golden. They book Alex and not Demelza. Off to Flamingo Sands and they don’t book Demelza but they do book Alex. That puts her two ahead.

Gee, Demelza is completely cured of bitchiness isn’t she - saying she hopes Alex falls. Oh please Karma, bite this bitch in the ass and don’t let her win.

Apparently Brian McFadden will be performing this evening. I said a few weeks ago that I would watch that Football Superstar to see if I can work out why Delta likes him. It must be something hidden deep inside because I am none the wiser, especially after his little giving the finger to a football stadium full of people who were taunting him trick. If Brian happens to be reading this (and of course he is, duh!) my advice is to be extra nice to people who are taunting you in future.

Something happened to the U ads as well - new music that almost sounds like Beyonce or something. I don’t like the new music so much.

Now it is time to see what happened at Fashion Week. Alex goes to Wayne Cooper - and so do several of the judges. Oh look, there’s Jodhi, I’d almost forgotten she existed. But what kind of hairstyles are those Wayne? Oh poor Demelza whinges that she was so bored and Alex’s walk was shit. Someone get her a tissue.

So when Demelza gets to walk, she does very well. All that impatience has done good things for her - and she did the angry walk probably because she was really mad that she had to watch Alex in two shows she didn’t get booked for.

Alex Perry makes beautiful things. He still loves Alice from last year and she kicks off his show. Alex has trouble with her walk - Demelza does the bobblehead then trips twice hello Karma! - and then tries not to cry about it.

Next is Bowie Wong who puts his models in bizarre blonde wigs and Alex has a wardrobe malfunction. Then Flamingo Sands and Alex does swimsuit.

Apparently you can still vote. And next they will be having a catwalk show.

So all the girls will be doing runway now. Oh sorry, I watched that. Not sure what the heck kind of music much of that was supposed to be. It was clear that Leiden and Sam were crowd favourites.

Charlotte talks to the girls which is very cringeworthy from my perspective. Sam is Australia’s favourite model which only gives her $5,000 - thanks to the cheapskates behind that tiny prize amount - she deserves a lot more!

Then they have a bitchy and tears segment which I slept through because we’ve seen all that before. And it seems like Alex Perry went to sleep as well because Charlotte asks him something and he wasn’t even listening to her. Now Henry Roth appears to pimp Project Runway.

Now they have a too quick fashion show with 3 models from Top Model and 3 designers from Project Runway have dressed them. That happened so quick I barely saw the clothes or the designers. There’s some terrible camera work on tonight’s show.

Maybe sometime in the next hour or so they might bother to tell us who has won - there’s just under 40 minutes left according to the Austar box. Looks like voting is no more also but they haven’t actually said so yet..

So now they’re going to look at the girls portfolio - and again Jodhi appears - who is she again? Don’t we all think Jodhi should not get a vote if she can’t be bothered to turn up to the finale? I mean she didn’t have to host, couldn’t she just sit there on the panel? Let’s get a new host next year, Fox 8.

Alex Perry and Jonathon have a little run in. And now the votes are about to close. Yeah right. I think the voting might just be a money making thing and not have much of an effect at all.

Geez that Beyonce style singing on the U ad is irritating - I used to love that ad and now, not.. And speaking of irritating, so is the Napoleon Perdis ad. I really don’t like that guy. And anyone spending that kind of money on a cleanser, toner and moisturiser should have their head read.

The lines are now closed. They look back at Alex’s portfolio. Charlotte is back in the bondage chair. Alex has a massive fringe today which is a bit of a pity - no eyebrows. Alex Perry and Jonathon have a new argument. After the break there is apparently a performance with a “couple” of surprises. Yawn.

And now Brian McFadden appears - not as a surprise as I mentioned it above - still not getting what the attraction is and really hating on that haircut. Thank God they’re playing shots of the models instead so we don’t have to look at it too much. The music is actually ok, compared to that hideous catwalk music.

Alex really has a problem with her walk, so I am thinking that it’ll be Demelza unless the voting shows that people hate her in which case I think Napoleon will refuse to have her as his face of Napoleon Perdis - and rightly so.

Jodhi mail. Who is Jodhi again? Oh, wasn’t she the host of the show? Oh, why isn’t she here? Because she wanted to show a very terrible example to the girls - when scared, wimp out.

So now the judges vote. Priscilla chooses Demelza. Kirsty chooses Alex. Napoleon says he doesn’t care about weight because all women can wear his make up (implication, even heifers and sumo wrestlers) and he picks Demelza. Alex Perry chooses Alex. Jonathon picks Demelza. Charlotte chooses Alex. Well, looks like this is pretty evenly split. And our vote is going to choose it, which means Demelza is toast.

Charlotte reminds people of the prizes. Yes, we have heard this what 15 zillion times? Alex has big earring holes but no earrings. The public vote is for…. drumroll…. oh wait now they cross to Alice from Paris. How can they possibly have got the results of the public vote to her in Paris and filmed that and got it back here? I smell something fishy..

I’m finding this a bit hard to believe.. There is no way the public voted for Demelza. No way. People don’t like a bitch, even with an apology.

Oh well, that’s all over with for another year and in the end it was all a bit pathetic in my opinion. On July 22 America’s Next Top Model starts. One wonders what would Tyra say about Jodhi’s non-appearance?

I predict Sam will go on to a huge modeling future and it’ll be “Demelza Who?” this time next year..

Lists can be inherently subjective and subject to interpretation rather like Ian’s list of Aussie Food, posted earlier. The latest, a list of 50 top Australian Albums is no exception.

Australian rock’n’roll turns 50 on July 5 and the criteria for this list, developed by the cool, the groovy, and the most knowledgable for The Age, was simply that the albums had to be made by bands who were predominantly Australian. The focus was on their greatest work, not necessarily their most popular. Who am I to judge no Kylie and other famous types?

Reading it, I am impressed how ignorant of “Great Australian Music” I am. Many of these I have never heard off, while others I had no idea they were Australian. The only truly Australian band that I was aware of was Men at Work. OK joking a little here. I do have a good excuse having only lived here for the last six years. Some of my exposure came from Elizabeth, who grew up here in Adelaide and has a good collection, including some on this list now that I read it. I have only really listened to Cold Chisel and the Hoodoo Gurus from her collection. At the time we met, I had over 1000 CDs and she had over 200. When we merged our collection, there were about three that overlapped.

Going through the list, I realise that I have some others including Nick Cave, who I have never managed to engage with. I prefer Leonard Cohen. I also have a very good exposure to the under five market.

Growing up I always thought of the Bee Gees as American ala Barry Manilow, AC/DC were Scottish after all and who the hell was John Farnham? I only knew Men at Work, Dame Edna Everage (not really a singer Dahlings) and Rolf Harris. I also liked Didgeredoo Music. Elizabeth on the other hand knew all of them and thought we should have them in our collection. Who am I to know? And what about adopted bands such as Abba.

Living in the town that is home to musicians such as Peter Coombe, Paul Kelly, John Farnham, the Hilltop Hoods, Cold Chisel and Guy Sebastian amongst others who have hit it big in Aussie Music, it behooves me to become more learned in this important aspect of Aussie Culcha. So here goes.

My list, with very little thought and in no particular order? (You can blame my kids for some of this).

George and the Orchestra and Return of the Spangled Drongo - George Spartels

Remember him from Play School. He actually had a part in Mad Max and Neighbours. Call him multiskilled or something. I saw him live at Henley Beach Town Hall, where the mosh pit was average age 3 and our kids had their much loved CDs autographed. We chatted with him afterwords. He was on the road with a van and one guy. Nothing like the way most bands tour now.

The Best of Rolf Harris - Rolf Harris

I am sure many Australians cringe at the thought of Rolf Harris, but he was the Australian Cultural Ambassador during my early childhood on the Rolf Harris Show. My grandad wouldn’t stop talking about how talented he was. We loved the wobble board and his painting and cartoons, live on television. My kids love him too.

I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus

Eat your heart out Dorothy the Dinosaur.

Songs from the South - Paul Kelly

I bought this at Borders on Orchard Road in Singapore. My wife was impressed with my taste. I didn’t even know he was Australian, far less from Elizabeth’s home town, where he was born in a taxi on the way to hospital. My kids liked this one, which they adapted as a short play at school assembly.

Spaghetti Bolognese, Newspaper Moma and Toffee Apple - Peter Coombe

I have never seen Peter Coombe, although Hannah went to see him a few years ago. I must have heard all the songs gazillions of times and the videos were played until they almost pooped out. Most of the people who were in his original mosh pits are probably parents of kids who hang out in clubs now.

Sunrise to Sea - John Butler Trio

I got to like them from Better Than.

Any LP by Kandiah Kamalesvaran (Tamil: கந்தையா கமலேஸ்வரன்) or Kamahl

I was in an Op Shop recently and they had a bunch of old Kamahl LPs. They were works of art. I have only heard a few of his songs, but the LPs are worth buying for the cover alone. He has an Adelaide connection having moved here from Malaysia in 1958. I was introduced to his silky voice when he guested on a Wiggles video. Listening to him speaking is enough. I liked Christine Anu in that same video too.

Bombora - The Atlantics

Not really an album, but I haven’t actually heard one. Who knows the names of the tunes anyway. We saw these guys surfing up a storm at the Adelaide Guitar Festival on election night last year. They came on late at night after an indifferent bunch before them. People were very happy with the knowledge that Honest John and his Buddies had been dispatched to electoral oblivion. They were worth the ticket by themselves.

I know that there are many more, but who has the time to put together lists.

And my bottom group in a totally unstructured list.

Anything by Guy Sebastian.

No comment necessary. My kids were very enamoured of him when he won the first Australian Idol. I hated his music from the moment I first heard it. It has just got worse. Shannon Noll and Anthony Callea I can take in small measure, but Goodbye Guy.

Anything by the Wiggles

I have listened to and watched too much Wiggling for about 200 lifetimes. The first Wiggles video was the first video that Hannah watched and watched and watched….. when we lived in Singapore. The early Wiggles were better before they got the exasperatingly annoying Captain Feathersword that they have now.

Anything on Australias Got Talent, Australian Idol, X Factor and the like. I hate those shows. Anybody who makes their way out is guaranteed to be ranked low by me.

Of course coming from Scotland, we have more than our fair share of quality acts, including this and this, so my bar is set pretty low. That said, here is the Scottish List, recently compiled. What! No Rod Stewart? I can personally recommend The Cocteau Twins, The Blue Nile and Runrig from that list if you want to try something Scottish that is not too painful.

So who or what do you like or consider worthy of being on a list of Aussie Music Greats?

A question posed by a new blogger in the Aussie Bloggers Forum inspired me to write this post. What is the best way to find blogs that cover a particular topic or niche? You may wish to do this for various reasons: to read for learning and leisure, for study and research, for business purposes or to connect with others that share your interest areas.

Static websites may satisfy your needs but there is a wealth of valuable knowledge and information to be found in blogs sites. How can find your way through the maze to those that are relevant?

Search engine searches can be useful, especially if you provide specific enough or advanced search criteria, but this is not always satisfactory. The results may be littered with advertising sites, forum posts with no replies or highly rated sites and blogs that mention the topic you are searching for but do not specialize in it.

A more targeted way is to use specific blog search engines such as Google Blog Search or set up Google Alerts to email you when your specific search words or terms come up in its results.

Specific blog search sites - Examples:

• Icerocket
• BlogScope a University of Toronto project that displays results based on popularity curves, identification of information bursts, related terms, and geographical search.
• Blogdigger
• Twingly which is a newly launched site, currently concentrating on indexing European blogs and aiming at spam free search. (We can only hope it succeeds)

Search for RSS feeds using directories on feed sites. Example: Bloglines where results also show the number of Bloglines subscribers next to each feed.

Social bookmarking sites such as reddit or del.icio.us

Some blog/web directory sites have higher quality listings and variety. Examples:

• Eaton Web where blogs are ordered according to “perceived strength, momentum and overall quality” using a range of criteria.
• Blog Search Engine which aims to focus on high quality blogs.
• BlogFlux which has a big range of categories.
• Blog Hop
• Technorati which indexes blogs and ranks them by the number of incoming links they receive.

Social Networking Sites that have good directories, helpful search functions and ways to connect with other bloggers:

• BlogCatalog
• StumbleUpon
• MyBlogLog - not the best for search but good for networking.
• Ning which is a blog platform as well as a networking site has groups that cover a wide range of topics.

I must mention my own favorite site here which combines bookmarking, web annotations, directory listings, search functions and social networking - diigo. You can join communities based on favorite sites, interest areas and link sharing. Because you are able to clearly specify your interest areas, I have found that any links sent to me by group or individual contacts have been good value.

For some of the more popular niches there are specific networking sites and listings. Art, Photography, Crafts and Parenting spring to mind here.

One of the most effective ways is by personally recommended links. Once you come across a few blogs you respect, you will no doubt also find useful links in their blog posts as well as in their blogrolls. Participating in a blogs comments will lead you to other bloggers who share your interests. Joining active forums which cover topics you wish to follow can bring you resources too.

This naturally leads me to thanking those who participated in an Aussie Bloggers forum thread and shared their own knowledge on this topic:

Kathie Thomas author of Virtual Assistant - The Blog about our industry

Evan of Wholistic Health

fern who is Not Nigella

Gaida and her Lifestyle Discoveries

Mei who teaches us about Smart Online Shopping

Of course if you are looking for Aussie Blogging sites then you are in the right place already