Australian Idol Update

Whoa. Just realised it's been six days since my last blog. With some people blogging twice a day lately, that makes me look pretty apathetic.This time I have actually been busy.

I guess what most people want to know is what I make of the remainder of Australian Idol. So here's how I rank them in order of preference.

SOPHIE
Did a great version sun night of "Don't Hold Back". It took Darren Hayes to remind her she's mostly good at singing moving songs, not pop and rock. You can check it out here.

http://www.australianidol.com.au/video.html?vxSiteId=d8d9c048-9737-4812-9589-10bb2864aa03&vxChannel=S6ConPerf%3ACon12

She probably won't win as she doesn't appeal much to teenage girls and is a tad personality deficient so far, so she'll need to open up in the coming weeks.

MADAM
Big potential, still pretty raw though. If she keeps straying from R&B she's a goner though.

CHRISLYN
Amazing voice, but probably lacking in some areas and the show's producers will be terrified to go down the Casey route again.

LUKE
Very different, and that's about the only appeal. Did a great version of "Flame Trees" the other night, but he shouldn't be winning "Australian Idol".

The rest are a mish mash of boring people with no unique qualities and guys that would be best on the pub circuit.

My fantasy in Fantasy

For years I've dreamed of getting the Number 1 pick in Fantasy basketball. This year it finally happened, in my 7th year of doing fantasy hoops. I've never picked higher than 4 and have never finished higher than 4, which seems to tell a story. Even Adam finished 1st last year in his first snaring of the prized first pick, so this should be a no-brainer. I'm renowned for being a strong starter, often by grabbing a great free agent and /or stacking games, so if I can do this again, not make a dumb trade and not be hit by a major injury again, I should be fine.

The key will be picking smart and not being affected by injury. Lebron (pictured, in case you've never seen a picture of him before, which probably means you're not reading a basketball story, so why am I even writing this) is the obvious choice, but there are plenty of other people to consider.......

Will Kobe be on a mission this year with the Finals on his mind?
Will Chris Paul continue to rise to super-stardom?
Will the Dwayne Wade of the Olympics show up in the NBA this year?
WIll Amare keep up the form he showed on Shaq's arrival last year?

The toughest thing about the No 1 pick is that you don't pick again until pick 20,but the benefit here is you make back-to-back picks from there on in. It should be a great year and you can track my progress via this blog.

Step Brothers

Headed out with Jim last night to go see "Stepbrothers".......initially. It was kind of supposed to be guys night for our Home Group guys but we were the only two who showed. On the way James made it known he was looking forward to seeing this movie probably about as much as I was keen to see "Titanic" back in the day. By the time we got to the cinema we had a little dilemma on our hands as several other options had been discussed, one being that we see "Mummy 3" instead. Obvious that neither of us would be happy seeing each others suggestion, we did what any 2 guys comfortable with each other would do- we saw our pick by ourselves (note: no two girls would ever do this. Ever. Too many feelings would be hurt). Here's my IMDB.com review.

With the lack of decent comedies coming out these days, and the "mailing it in" efforts of late of such screen giants as Stiller and Sandler, not much not featuring Will Ferrell grabs my attention. So when his latest movie came out, stamped with a hilarious premise, they had me hook,line and sinker.

"Stepbrothers" is the story of two losers (Ferrell and Reilly) who's lives living with their single parents is torn apart when their parents meet and marry, meaning they have to move in together. Initially they hate each other, but soon discover some similarities and form a bond. This is dashed though when their invasion on their parents lives cause them to separate. Can they get their parents back together and live together again? See it to find out.

Pretty crude at times,but that comes with the territory these days with Will movies. The thing I appreciate is he tries lots of quirky stuff, some of it fizzes and other bits are gold (see the fight with the kids,Billy Joel tribute band, the psychologist scenes, the name pronunciations etc). Some great costumes,often stealing the scenes eg the chewbacca mask. Ferrell and Reilly are great, with great support from Adam Scott as Derek. Not a comedy classic by any stretch, and dragged a fair bit in stretches when the comedy was dull, but some good moments.

I gave it a 6/10, which was interesting when reviewing the IMDB ratings
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0838283/ratings

Basically under 18 males gave it a 7.8, 18-29's gave it a 7.2 and the 30+'s gave it a 6.4, which is right in my demographic.

For the record, James and I caught up at the end any had a lovely dessert and chat at "The Pancake Kitchen". If anything, we're closer for the experience.

Dan In Real Life

It's was my turn to pick the dvd last night and after about 3 runs up and down the "New Releases", here's what i came up with. Here's my IMDB.com review.

Dan (Steve Carrell, in his most touching role since he played Brick in "Anchorman") is a widower raising 3 girls while balancing a successful career as an advice columnist. The girls are becoming a handful as one wants to start driving and the other is in a burgeoning relationship. At the peak of some frustrations with each other, the family goes to their annual whole family holiday at Dan's parents house (his parents are played by that old dad in "Frasier" and the ageless Dianne Wiest, best known as the mum in "The Lost Boys"). While visiting the bookstore on a break, Dan runs into Marie (Juliette Binoche) and falls head over heels in love. When he gets back to the home he tells his brothers of what happened at the bookstore and is mortified when Marie turns up at the home too, as the new girlfriend of brother Mitch. Dan is extremely confused about what to do and goes down several paths before making his final decision. Will Dan profess his love or will he honour his brother?

Pleasant, enjoyable despite the slightly morally challenging storyline. A few "convenient" situations help make the story slightly plausible, which really helped. A good cast and decent story, but Carrell really makes the movie. May remind many (if they had the misfortune of seeing it) of "The Family Stone".

My week

I've drawn a lot of criticism for my lack of mid-week posting. So here's a snapshot of what you missed from my day today.

ROADSHOW
Attended a roadshow, learning about a machine that sucks up gases and particles for 2.5hrs. Lots of details about flow rate, partciles per cubic metre etc. Fascinating. Was really looking forward to lunch but my mood was best described as crestfallen when I saw we only had sandwiches and I couldn't find a decent sandwich in sight. I eventually picked one up that had a weird combo of ham,tomato,carrot,alfafa and a few unknown things. Had one bite and came across some weird relish that almost made me gag. Looked for a bin to throw it in but couldn't find one, so had to stand akwardly with it for a few mins until no-one was looking and I placed it discretely on a table.

SHOPPING
Took Isaac to do the grocery shop. He kept asking everyone their name and besides Pam at the checkout, most people weren't too obliging.

So that was my day- see why I sometimes go a few days without blogging?

More videos

Here's some more champagne comedy from my collection. From "Extras"

ANDY BUYS MAGGIE A DRESS


MAGGIE AND DARREN GO ON A DATE

Video Editing

Finally overcame some issues with my video editing software- here's some clips from my personal collection. Something for everyone.

SEINFELD ON "ENOUGH ROPE"
On being single vs being married and enjoying the simple things





KENNY ANDERSON
Before CP3, there was Special K. Sure didn't live up to his potential.




MICALLEF on "THANK GOD YOU"RE HERE"
Playing an Englishman. Champagne comedy.

Weekend reflections

"Donut King" prices are spiralling out of control. $2 for a donut I can buy in a 6pack at Coles for $3? That's crazy! You need to take a good hard look at yourself "Bakers Delight" also or the both of you will end up like Pizza Haven who got power hungry and started charging $7 for a large pizza and are now defunct................

Everyone has been banging on about Collingwoods great finals history under Mick Malthouse. The only catch with that...he's won as many permierships in his time at Collingwood as Neil Craig has at Adelaide. It's great to win a final or two here and there but who cares if you don't win the big one occasionaly? That's why I wasn't heaps cut that the Crows lost last week because we were never going to win the flag anyway..........

One thing that bugs me is couples who share facebook pages or email addresses. Ridiculous. They are free! It's not like it's a cost saving method........

At the "McCafe" yesterday a lady told the checkout girl she was in a hurry for her breakfast as she needed to take her children to school. Once she got her food she sat and ate with them for half an hour. Dishonest..........

Going for a walk at 9:45 at night isn't the same as a 9pm walk. Not quite as relaxing when you think someone is following you, a car full of hoons yells stuff out the window and a possum jumps in front of you and scares the hell out of you, all with your senses being dulled because you're listening to your Ipod.

Drillbit Taylor

Last night wifey redeemed herself and picked "Drillbit Taylor", something I knew just came out this week, and while it wasn't going to be any "Casablanca", I thought it would be alright. It was.

Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson) is a bum looking for a few quick $$$ to escape to Canada. He stumbles across an ad placed by three kids being bullied in school looking for a bodyguard and sees his opportunity. He'll take their pay, plus also steal a lot of stuff from their houses. After a while he comes unstuck when one of the bullies discovers his true identity and Drillbit has some talking to do as the boys hopes are dashed. Will Drillbit save the day? See it to find out.

Not brilliant, but I giggled a fair bit through it which means it struck something with me. Probably a lot of mixed messages about whole bullying issue (actually come to think of it maybe it didn't really address it at all) but the movie was probably more about some boyish laughs than about addressing the issue of school bullies.

Wilson was alright, started pretty well but got kind of annoying after a while. Generally he's best as the 2nd banana and not the main man (see "The Big Bounce" for proof). Younger guys ie 12-31 will probably get some laughs and enjoy it.

Paul's fast paced weekend

The big weekend started Fri night when I went to our church's "Men's Camp". The first night was pretty casual, I played some "Tipayatung", which is basically a quiz game mostly focused on music and movies and not those pesky topics like geography and art. I won, but never got over not recognising a line from "When Doves Cry". After that played some Hold 'Em and came a poor 3rd. The toughest part of the night was getting my bed ready in the dark.

SATURDAY
Saturday was good, built around discussion and playing a combo football/netball game. It's sad how unfit I am and how my footy skills have declined to near-unco status. Luckily I found my niche as a goalkeeper, which involved standing on a chair for the whole game trying to catch balls. One of the bonuses of spending the whole day with the guys was I got to miss out on seeing the Crows lose. Losers.



At night went to see my favourite Adelaide sports team- the 36'ers. They were playing the South Dragons just around the corner at Knox, which was very convenient for me. There was an ok crowd but being by myself I got to sit pretty much wherever I liked. My best spot was a few rows behind the 36'ers bench and a few metres behind Boti Nagy. I think of all the "celebrities" one could meet, he'd be in my top 5. You could have a chat with probably the authority on SA basketball for the last 30 years and talk to him about all sorts of things (eg how I also didn't like Willie Farley or also think Shane Heal is a goose) and he probably wouldn't be a jerk.

Anyway, here's my thoughts...........

-It's not NBA standard, but it's amazing the depth of basketball now for just 3 teams folding. The 36'ers worst player is Brad Hill, who has improved heaps since his last stint here when he was a scared rookie playing as the 8th or 9th man.
-We started Ballinger, Maher, Holmes, Bruce and Tyndale. That means we had Schenscher and Cooper coming off the bench as our bigs and Winitana and Hill as swingman. Davidson and Kersten didn't suit.
-The Dragons team was pretty strong as well, featuring Olympians Ingles and Worthington , Nick Horvath, Mika Vukona, a new import and a few middle range players who look heaps better playing for Brian in Gibson, Carter and Herbert.
-Must be weird for the Olympians going from Beijing to Boronia ie Goorjian coaching against Scotty Ninnis instead of Mike Krzyzewski, Joe Ingles getting court time, Mark Worthington getting in fights with people from the same country instead of foreigners.
-The 36'ers coaching staff wore jeans and crappy tracksuit tops. They looked they'd just come from the pub. Goorjian looked he was going to a disco after.
-The Dragons got off to a 14-0 start before we got on the scoreboard. Their D was great and we couldn't get a decent look. Then we brought on the 7"2 guy.
-Wasn't super impressed with Aaron Bruce to start with as he just looks like a social basketballer but as the game wore on (especially after the near fight with Worthington) he won me over. Really tough,excellent body languange, aggressive, quick...a lot to like.
-Back to the near fight. Worthington was right up on Bruce, so he elbowed Wortho, who then grabbed Bruce around the throat for several seconds until he was dragged away. Just the foul on Bruce though.
-The 36'ers drew closer in the 2nd and kept it reasonably close in the 3rd but the Dragons blew them away in the 4th.
-It seems the 36'ers still have a way to go until they get their rotations right seeing as we seem to have 2 centres, 1 point guard, 1 shooting guard, 2 guys who are SF/PF and 3 swingmen. I think our best line up would be..

PG- Bruce
SG- Maher
SF- Tyndale
PF- Ballinger
C- Schenscher

-Need to see more of Tyndale before I know if he's a good import. Seems to be very athletic with some good moves but got clearly frustrated in this game (also nearly got in a fight).

Here's my player thoughts and rankings.

Maher- thanks to lots of free throws (several not from his own work) he scored enough but is starting to show his age, especially against a young team. 6/10
Ballinger- never got into the game much and not many plays ran for him but was ok. 6/10
Schenscher- too soft a lot of the time but near unstoppable in the post when given some space. Needs a lot more intensity otherwise Ninnis may kill him. 6.5/10
Holmes- also never got into a groove but did some ok things. Shot looked awful most of the night. 5/10
Cooper- Not given heaps of time but his shot looked improved and was ok on D as usual. 5/10
Hill- much more poised than his last stint. Can hit the 3 and get to the ring. 5/10
Winitana- active but didn't do anything exceptional. 4/10
Tyndale- got frustrated and down early. 4th quarter showed some class but got too predictable and got some charges and turnovers against him. 4/10
Bruce- our best player for the night. Played most of the game and improved as it went on. A little turnover prone at times but solid at both ends of the floor. Promising. 7.5/10

For the Dragons........

Horvath- great game. Scored near 30 and looked unstoppable in the key. Our guys played him way too soft and let him get the ball where he wanted it. Shane Heal cut him, so........ 8.5/10
Carter- solid all game. Ran the offence well. 7/10
Orr- barely played and shot an airball. 0/10
Gibson- very effective. Did his job 7/10.
Ingles- fallen in love with his 3pt shot a little. On offence unless he could get a big dunk always dished off. Disturbing. 7/10
Herbert- great game, active both ends. 8/10
Vukona- just ok. 6/10
Worthington- seems to more concerned with starting fights. Not his best game. 5/10
Darden- shows something but not dominant by any stretch. 5/10

One last note- wore my jumper that I'd worn to the men's camp to the game. Didn't realise 'til I got home that I had a name tag (piece of tape with my name written on it in texta) on. So that's good.

SUNDAY
Father's Day. Got me some pancakes and presents (licorice and a Sidney Poitter book), then headed to church for tech desk. Really good service, highlighted by a boy band parody. After church our home group ran the BBQ, then we came home. I spent the day with the boys, then at night chilled watching Idol. Thankfully Sophie got a wildcard spot and should make the Top 10. Sadly no place for the little froggie kid Olly.

Julius Hodge

Good news for Julius Hodge fans. He now as a blog. Man, they let anyone who can string two words together have a blog these days. Even if their good isn't grammar!

Australian Idol

So Channel 10 has been awash with Australian Idol for the last 4 nights. There's been some ok performances and some pretty ho-hum ones. So far my favourites are still 'lil Tom Williams and Sophie Patterson, with Wes Carr looking ominous. I'm hoping the frog kid gets into the wildcard show because I reckon he has star potential.

Tonight Madam Parker and James Spargo should get through and that would be my top 6 right there.