Model this

The models have hit the streets with their tiny arses and stileto shoes. The cries of a million malnurished women have been silenced with smaller dress sizes. Australia's fashion week is here again.

With a polite nod to political correctedness, i am curvey. So it is perhaps my curves that cause sense of decency to run and hide when a model of 2 pounds is seen as "normal" for the catwalk. The thighs that do not touch saunter down the aisle, daring the skin to make contact with skin as the model scizors her legs along. Hair is pulled drastically away from the face so the limpness does not cause stares and the protruding cheekbones mark the face as gaunt. Her eyes are hollow but overshaddowed with enough makeup to secure a make-over to the residents of a small country. The hands are boney, with fingers like spider legs. The miss-hung clothing hangs off the model revealing parts of a woman that even her closest companion probably didn't know about.

And this is what is toted as the epidomy of fashion. This is what i should strive to achieve. A boney frame that might break upon a hug. Eyes that are vaccant and clothing that hangs from a starved body.

I will take my curves that do not fit into every article of clothing. I will keep my flushed cheeks. My hair will continue to shine and allowed bounce with my steps. Because i am a woman who is loved. I have a body that is loved. I do not need the high fashion skelotons to tell me i'm not good enough. My lover is not bruised against my protroding bones. My nails are strong and beautiful. I can walk more than the length of a catwalk and i can definately see through you.

Note from me

Today i feel that things should be different. Most things should be different...but being that *apparently* i don't run the world, i will settle for making my little space a little more snazzy. Enjoy.

xoxox

your blogging mistress

and the winner is

According to our website poll, most of you would rather that Buffy end up with Spike. He's smart, cute, and best of all ISN'T whiney!

Sorry Angel...looks like you lost to Spikeybear.

try crack, it tastes like strawberries

It started by my husband wanting to play something that i could play with him. So we tried playing a free online massively multiplayer game, Maplestory. It wasn't bad from my point of view. You had little cartoon characters who ran around killing snails. I didn't see a problem.

My husband did. Who knew he was part of TETOS (The Ethical Treatment of Snails).

So we decided to look elsewhere. The obvious choice was WoW. I didn't really want to play being that everything i had read said that WoW was crack for the gamer...and hubby is definately a gamer. So we kept looking.

Nothing was turning up, at least nothing that allowed hubby the game play he desired and kept me from throwing the monitor out the window.

For hubby's birthday, he was given 2 trial accounts of WoW. I finally agreed to play the trial accounts.

Turns out crack is actually quite nice, tastes sort of like strawberries.

A dying breed

The Record companies have made news again. They want ISP providers to start policing their servers and punishing their own customers if they download music illegally. In Australia, most are refusing, saying that it isn't their responsibility to police the net. They say that there are plenty of avenues available to the Record companies to file suits against people who are downloading their music illegally.

When this story first started to make news, i felt a bit bad for the Record companies. They were putting so much effort into getting and keeping their money without support. I have since decided I do not have any sympathy for them.

For every CD I buy, The record company gets a large portion of the profit and a few cents to the artist. But i do not own the CD i bought. I only own the right to play the CD on my CD player. If i convert the music to MP3 format and play it on my iPod, they can punish me for doing so. So in a since, if i want to listen to one song, i will have to buy it twice so i can listen to one two different formats THAT I OWN! We haven't even started talking about file sharing yet.

In essence, they punish their own customers. But it doesn't stop there.

If I buy a CD and love it, want to tell people about it and give copies of their album to my friends to hear, I get in trouble. Because even though this sort of publicity will bring more people to concerts (which make a lot more money for the Artists), the Record companies don't want the Artist to make money, they want to make money.

In November of last year, a Producers for the film The Man from Earth, thanked online Pirates for stealing his film. He said “The Man From Earth” has been overwhelmingly positive. People like our movie and are talking about it, all thanks to piracy on the net!”

“The Man From Earth” has been overwhelmingly positive. People like our movie and
are talking about it, all thanks to piracy on the net!”

Record companies are a dying breed. They are not needed any more. They have become so consumed with greed that they are not doing what is best for their artists or their customers. While they may work with countries and courts to keep their business, it is only a matter of time before the world realised that they are not needed to publicise artists, to sell albums, or to get people to concerts. They are a useless middleman.

The Fast Food Rant

What is to follow is pretty much a fast food rant. It serves up a little bit of something similar to meat but without any real substance. Mainly this is due to my laziness...same reason i eat fast food actually.

1) Did you see the USA democrats confront the republicans on their sex abstinence program? Democrats want to include tips for safe sex not just abstinence in the sex education programs. Republicans are having a hard time of it though, but it's so important that these three-times-divorced republicans learn about safe sex or else they'll just keep getting caught in public toilets with their pants down for the wrong reasons!

2) Apparently skinny mummy needs a tummy tuck. I'm so glad they made a book for the kids of Hollywood parents. Now there is one less thing they will have to discuss with their psychologist when they grow up and get arrested for DUI's of their own.

3) Who knew that America's gun laws would benefit criminals in other countries?! This is what happens when you are so paranoid about people coming into your country that you search every car coming in for an apple, but wave though the cars going out, even when its a black van, heavily loaded with small arms and artillery...oh yeah, and the limp arm hanging out that back is probably just one of those Halloween props.


And that has been my fast food rant.

Melbourne Comedy Gala 2008

What do cats dream of?

What do cats dream of?

As soon as i sit down, i'm soon joined by Bobcat. He curles up in my lap and happily purrs himself to sleep. Then comes the fun part.

He begins to snore. Then sort of whine. AND THEN, he gets shivers that run down his spine.

What is he dreaming that causes this? Is he dreaming or is it just a natural happening of sleeping? I don't know. But i would definitely like to.

film review: Penelope

I love a good fairytale. Modern fairytales make me happy, but often leave me cold. I love the idea of them, but they just don't pull off the wonder that so many other fairy stories leave me with.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the film Penelope, starring Christina Ricci, was lacking in the cold area. The story was beautiful and exciting.

The tale centres around a girl who as been cursed with the nose of a pig. Her mother hides her away from the public and at the same time tries to marry her off to a "blue blood" to break the curse.

I especially like the end where the moral of her story is told by children.

Penelope: [telling her class her story] And we lived happily ever after - well, happily ever after so far at least.
Child #1: I don't get it. What does it mean?
Penelope: Well, you tell me what you think it means.
Child #2: Rich people stink!
Child #3: It's always the mothers fault.

With the help of some beautiful acting and careful cinematic work, and best of all, a real script, it has won its place as one of my favourite films. And yes, our next movie night will probably feature this film. Brace yourself.

Take it like a man

When the Pope recognised that there was a problem with so much pedophilia in his church earlier in the week, he cleverly blamed the rest of the world for the problem. He acknowledged that there was a problem in his dioceses, but said that pedophilia "is found not only in your dioceses but in every sector of society".

If the Pope can see pedophilia is *every* sector of society, he is either only looking in certain places or is looking through a tinted lens.

Is there an epidemic of kindergarten teachers who are secretly molesting children? Perhaps it is new mothers or the tourist industry that is rampant in child pornography.

The fact that catholic priests are often associated with molesting young boys is not some kind of protestant conspiracy to discredit them. It has come out of hundred if not thousands of complaints of child abuse.

If that wasn't enough the catholic church has notoriously covered up, or protected those accused.

For the Pope to turn around and claim society is at the core of the abuse of the Catholic Priests' victims, is infuriating. The Church needs to "take it like a man". Accept responsibility for their own actions in full, not blaming society or anyone else, and then lay out plans of how to eradicate those who abuse children and those who protect those who abuse children. But most importantly, carry out those plans. Only then will i believe they are being serious about protecting the children.

Food for the hungry

If you haven't heard it on the news, there is a food shortage. Millions of people are going to starve to death because they can not get food. This isn't just in countries where one meal is served a day. This is in our western countries, like Australia and the United States too.

People have many different theories why there is such a massive food shortage. Most people are willing to label it as the cost of farmers growing bio-fuel instead of food for human consumption. But why would farmers chose bio-fuel crops over food crops?

Perhaps one of the reasons lies in copyright.

In traditional farming, a farmer buys seed, plants his crop, and then collects a portion of the crop's seeds for the next seasons planting. In today's farming, corporations own the copyright on the genetically modified (GM) food. This means that each season, a farmer must purchase more seeds or risk prosecution for using seeds that have the copyrighted DNA. Farmers have a higher overhead on these foods. It is cheaper for them to produce biofuel, thus, they can afford to continue farming.

In 2006 Monsanto, a corporation who makes GM foods, had a revenue of over $7 Billion USdollars. They got their revenue party by forcing those who use their products to continue to buy every season. Their tactics have forced hundred of farmers out of business around the globe. They continue to make no aplogies for they're actions. (Sadly, this is only one of their atrocities against their own customers, but if you'd like a full report, i suggest a read of their wikipedia entry.)

The next time you go to the store, check the label. By local food without the GM label. It will be better for you, and better for the person who grew that food.

Bringing more death to Louisiana

To any one who has read a story in the paper, or known a child who was molested or raped, you know how gut wrenching it is to hear the offender get a light sentence. The child may be scared both emotionally and physically for life and the offender gets away with a mere 7 year sentence. What if that changed?

Louisiana is proposing to add child rape to the charges in which perpetrators can face the death penalty.

Now before you jump on-board and start waving flag to push the bill through, lets think about this for a minute.

Most child rapes are committed by family members or family friends of the victim. If the victim or victim's friends know that the offender could be killed for his/her actions, are they more or less likely to turn them in? I would suggest less. Child Advocacy groups agree.

Furthermore, those who trespass on the law, do not often think of the consequences, and if they do, they may decide that the lesser sentence of murder will keep them off death row. So while the harsher sentence would not be a likely factor to deter perpetrators, those who do think about these things are likely to take the next step and kill their victim.

If the death penalty is enacted for child rape, does statutory rape carry the same sentence? There are more than once case of a partner going to jail because his/her lover was 1 or 2 years younger and under the adult age bracket.

All these factors make this is a scary policy and one i don't think i could support.

Buffy- season 8

If you're not a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan...tune out now. What i am about to descend into is pure and slightly ashamed fan ranting.

At the end of season 7, the cast said fairwell and the creater of the the show went on to continue to story in comic book form. While i was slightly disappointed that the story would continue in such a format, i was willing continue my fan-ness and read on.

The lastest episode, however, was a bit too much for me. As a fan, i was hoping for a resolution to the big question "Angel or Spike"? The creator seemed to have side stepped the issue and given her a new lover....a woman.

Now I am not against the homosexual streak that runs through the show. In fact, i appreciate the difference in life style between Willow and Buffy. But now there is no difference! Not to mention, another strong female lead has been pigeon-holed as "lesbian" once again.

For a story that pushes the bounds of social normalities and encourages people to look for the unexpected, i felt that this story shift was a cop out! Not only does this suggest that a strong woman can not be with a man, it also suggests that the writers were too busy worrying about their fan base to delve into the question of who she ends up with?

I feel that it does men a disservice to portray Buffy as lesbian. I really do. Men are able to handle their women strong, but only if they are given the chance to do it. Lets explore that issue, not ignore it.

Nightmare to romance

It wasn't that long ago i gushed about the wonders of my husband and it is unashamedly i am about to do it again.

The other night i woke up in a panic. I had awoken from a dream that had seemed to be absolutely real. I dreamt that my mother had died when i was young and i had grown up with my father. The dream highlighted things that had actually happened in my life and magnified them. In my dream i remember my real current life like it was a great day-dream or schoolgirl fantasy.

As I awoke from the nightmare clutching the doona, my sleepy eyes looked around the room. I expected to see the walls in my dreams. I expected to hear the banging on the bedroom door. I didn't. I heard the soft snores of my husband next to me. He half awoke and asked me if i was okay. I said i had suffered a nightmare and he pulled me to his chest. "Don't worry. I've got you. Your safe here."

I can not explain the relief of realising the dream had only been a dream. To realise that the life i had thought of as a foolish fantasy, i actually live every day.

transgender

In Bend, Oregon there is a man, who is legally recognised as a man, who is having a child. You see, Thomas Beatie, was born as a woman. He had an operation ten years ago which changed his gender but he kept his reproductive organs. Now he’s using them to have a child with his partner, Nancy.

My first reaction was of shock. Stories in the news just keep getting stranger!

I read the comments that were coming from readers of the articles and i began to wonder at the sanity of people. People were really angry that this person was having a child. His obvious difference in life style combined with a pregnancy was enough to bring out all the angry people.

The story is blatantly strange. The child will plainly have some challenges growing up. But at the same time, I can’t help but think that these two people are going to be incredibly attentive and loving parents. So much attention to detail has gone into the process, I find it hard to believe that a child growing up in their home would be anything less than treasured. And how is a treasured child something that is bad? I imagine that a child would feel very safe in that sort of environment. It has a great chance of being a much safer than many other scenarios that children are brought into.

In the end it should be about a child going up in a safe environment. If they are willing to do their part in providing it. We, the public, should do our part by accepting the situation (which we have no right to change) and letting them parent without the fear of physical harm or discrimination.

But that is the difficult part. Will the religiously conservative be able to put aside their judgement and allow the family to function as a family? Will the media stop treating the issue like a freak show? Will the world end in May like the Russian cult claims?

Who know. but i suspect it is our own decisions that will decide the answer

thought for the day

I've had an ongoing thought in my mind. It was sparked by another blogger. The question that this blogger posed was about the reason why God would need his followers to believe and have faith in him. What is the benefit and or value to God of having people believe without solid and concrete facts?

After much contemplation, i still do not have an answer that comes close in satisfying me. Do we somehow believe more strongly in something that is unknown? Does God need our faith to satisfy something in him/herself? I do not know.

It is the reason i have decided to open up the discussion to my readers. What do you think?

(reading the original post may be of benefit to you)

aussie comedy

Here are two great clips from austrlaian comedy. The first is Will Anderson. His political comedy stylings always have given me a laugh. The second is a short clip from Good News Week with Paul McDermott.





Okay, if you've already seen ubilical brothers clip, here is another one. I know i said only two clips for this entry, but this one had me laughing so hard, i changed my mid. Enjoy