And the whole thing has disappeared from the papers, after all more pressing issues to worry about such as Celeb weddings, still tracking it as I guess we all know what the outcome is going to be.

Still picking up the white man's burden up North I see.

Kiesha Abrahams went missing on July 8th and something of a glorified witch hunt is underway in NSW. The Bogans are of course caught up in the drama with various cretins using every trick in the book to get their fifteen minutes worth of coverage as the Police continue to investigate the disappearance and some pretty damning evidence that is starting to merge.

There's three suspects now very much in Police focus following forensic investigation.

- Kristi Abrahams, the mother

- Robert Smith, the stepfather

- Christopher Weippeart, the biological father.

Naturally it's trial by media, as one media outlet put in after giving front page coverage and naming names, but the facts remain the same.

• Keisha mother has previously been cited for biting her daughter
• Police have now named all three adults as suspects
• A son died previously, cause "cot death" the case has been re-opened
• The former husband accused of pointing a gun at the step dad and daughters, he was at the time undergoing an operation
• Keisha had apparent not been in school for over a month

The standard of journalism has of course reached new levels of inanity



Nice one Sydney Morning Herald, did you write that with a crayon?

I'm following this one closely as the news worthy nature of things drops off the front page, surprised the Daily Bogan isn't doing colour spreads on the whole thing.

Firstly Barnes cost New Zealand the Quarter final match in one of the more blatant displays of one sided calls I have ever seen. The French forwards were constantly off side in the second half which Barnes failed to make a single call on. I'm not even going to get into the French "try" and the linesman's flag being up, ignored by Barnes. Clearly the IRB wanted France in the Semi Finals.

Sorry this decision is simply fanning the flames and I would expect one hell of a crowd reaction to Barnes on Saturday, the IRB and McCaw are completely off the pulse if they think that's not going to happen. Barnes should never ever Ref another game involving the ABs and should be dropped to officiating second class European fixtures imho. Makjing the Ref off limits to the News media is simply an admittance that the guy is not liked in my part of the world and smacks of a two face policy, something we have come to expect from the gin sodden IRB unfort.

Very stupid decision by the IRB with the NZRU as usual being hopeless in serving up the best interestes of New Zealand rugby. Frack the lot of them imho and bring on the Football!

LiLo has finally worked out she has a couple of things working for her, which is more than her acting career has accomplished recently. I just don't get the attraction or the money being spent on a "B"grade celeb that requires major Photoshop work. Your call on this one ...



guyism.com have published their list of most hyped females in the world with Down Under drama queen Anna Paquin holding down 14th spot but paling in comparison to Kristen Stewart's title win

From the guys at guyism





Hey we've being saying Stewart is an emo wannabee for like ages already!

So a pretty predictable plot has been done before! Shock, horror, news at eleven. Would imagine the Chinese guy has exactly two chances of winning here, none, and nadda.

Slight update. Invision 3.1.0 released yesterday, seems to have a few bugs but what the hey. Waiting on the release of the arcade module to match 3.1.0

Tigerguy a return to "MangoJacks" the world's best ever chat site, otherwise known as welcome to the lifeboat party child.

"Islamist Turkey" ???????????????

Apparently she is being groomed to take on an embattered Obama in the next Presidential race (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mf_popcorn.gif) Another win for the Democrats then.

Is this woman serious?

Neil Marshal doing anything for the next three years?

Maybe Bay finally worked out she can't actually act her way out of a wet paper bag (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mf_popcorn.gif)

Isiah is an immortal who seeks to help keep the balance in a Universe where every God ever dreamt of by man exists, and of course where all the corresponding Evil also exists. The Balance, a sort of unknowable cosmic entity, tasks Isiah with getting the Satanist Samuel to South America in order for Samuel to save the life of American Journalist Katherine, who is destined to do a great deed, but who is on a collision course with the Psychopathic Mercenary Carlos. Samuel was destined to tackle Carlos before he could kill Katherine, but when you piss off Satan the best laid plans are going to go to pieces.

First rescuing Samuel from the very bowels of Hell itself, Isiah must then somehow escape the satanic legions that are hard on their heels and get Samuel to the place of his destiny at the correct time. Vampires, assorted Angels, and others will help Isiah in his quest; demonic forces will dog his every step. It's a race against time and an unholy enemy with the lifeblood of the Amazon at risk.

Can Isiah achieve his aim, and is all as it might seem?


Review

"Are you asking if I believe that the skull has power?" - Sanchez

I got sent this one on the eve of Author Alan Baxter crashing the North American lifeboat party. The novel has been out for sometime Down Under but has recently been picked up for some tender loving care up North, about bloody time as well if you ask me, not that you were. I'm getting my 2c in before Al Baxter becomes like famous and stuff and get's to drink tequila out of Paris Hilton's belly button, hence he might even read this review in between fielding movie offers. So hey unexpected book to review, just finished the climatic final confrontation, let's see how this pony trots.

Baxter doesn't waste much time ripping into things as Isiah is immediately battling the forces of hell, due to being a thorn in the side of Satan. From here the book doesn't lag at any stage and actually cranks up the pace as things start rocketing to Mayan Pyramid central, the reader will tend to get swept along in the flow, so just go with it. Alan Baxter has a keen eye for pace and lets his writing style reflect the race against time that his protagonist is consumed by. There are interludes as we get to meet additional characters and hit the metaphysical musings that form the core of the novel, but they are really only pit stops to help the reader get their breath back. I was actually reading at break neck speed as things got dicey for Isiah and was cheering the big fella on as time started running out. Its touch and go, things aren't preordained here, and the outcomes are not what you might think they are from the opening chapters. There are a few surprises in store folks.

There's certainly quite a bit of comparative religion and deep thought flowing through the novel, but Baxter never allows it to overwhelm the narrative or detract from where things are going. You can quite happily dial into deep thinking similar to the tail end of an undergraduate bong party, or you can just jump on the chariot race Alan Baxter has unleashed. Basically all Gods that have even been thought of exist, if enough people put their faith into a mythical being then that being will become a reality. Sort of like an out of control Tibetan toga party. Actually must do a bit of research and ensure it was the Tibetans that came up with the concept. So naturally you have the Christian God, Arch Angels, demons, and Satan. Joining the party are Mayan gods, vampires (who appear to exist here on the human plain), and about any other mythical being that wants to get into the ultimate tag team face up. It's a compelling idea and Alan Baxter goes one step beyond by having a force of Balance in the Universe to ensure we don't get over run by Satyrs or a giant mechanical Barbara Streisand and the like. Actually it all makes sense and you can dial into as much or as little musing of this sort as you desire.

What's interesting about Alan Baxter's central concept is that it takes out the normal chaos overtones that horror plays with like a five year old with a box of matches. While "The Balance" seeks some grand design harmony in the cosmos chaos is as likely to be unleashed by the forces of good as it is by the forces of evil. Don't expect the normal horror tropes to be renting a room in this particular Hotel, Alan Baxter has thrown a particularly nasty curve ball at us. Which is of course to be applauded, if you read as much horror as I do on a regular basis then you get all complacent and start working out the plot from about page two. I was actually charging through the novel to see what new ideas the Author had coming my way and was caught up on the whole fabric of the universe thing. Just think the force kids and go with the flow okay.

So what you are getting here is a pretty decent yarn that rocks along at pace and a philosophical viewpoint of life, the universe, and everything. Quite the achievement when you think about it. And before anyone starts thinking this all sounds slightly heavy, I'm nodding at Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code that manages to wrap art history, theological debate, and the sort of mythos that conspiracy theorists love into one hell of a thriller ride. So you can have some fun, learn some stuff, and get a whole new interpretation of religion while still wondering if Isiah might be in imminent danger from hell's legions.

Structurally Alan Baxter side steps an immediately trap that has caught any number of other would be novelists at the first hurdle. We are talking the sort of character list that you would normally expect from a fantasy novel. And before you ask, no this isn't the horror outing that sees a group of people trapped in an isolated Amazon farmhouse over the course of one night. Baxter introduces his characters as they become involved in the events unfolding, so we don't get a whole bunch of people thrown into the first chapter that'll take half the book to sort out. Besides Isiah and Samuel fighting the legions of Satan in their attempt to achieve Samuel's destiny, there's Carlos Villalopez a psychopathic mercenary who takes strong exception to a local hospital Priest, and U.S Journalist Katherine Bailey who has her own destiny to fulfil. This isn't even mentioning the various minor characters each major character attracts during the course of the novel. Everything is moving toward a hay ride to hell in the Amazonian jungle, and Baxter gradually picks up pace as the final confrontation looms ever closer. And by final confrontation I'm talking apocalyptic forces clashing over here. Alan Baxter isn't going at this half arsed, Satan wants his due, there are destinies to be fulfilled, and you wouldn't want to be the middle of this disagreement.

I had a whole bunch of fun with this novel, and yes really dug the philosophical side of things Alan Baxter was sending my way. Unfortunately I've run out of space, hence didn't cover some of the literary devices in use, but just take it as written that there's a whole bunch more depth and cool ideas coming at you in the novel.

I'm not entirely sure if you can pick up RealmShift at the increasingly drab main street bookstores of the nation or not to be honest. I simply get way too depressed at the increasing shelve space being allotted "C" grade writers who would be hard pressed to put a decent paragraph together to bother checking. Speciality stores like Sydney's Galaxy Bookshop carry the title, or if OS then dial into Alan Baxter's Official Site (http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/) and follow the links. For U.S readers there's a North American edition on its way so dial into that bad boy.

Clicky recognise a couple of the Down Under writers but not the North Americans (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mf_seehearspeak.gif)

Welcome to the site (IMG:style_emoticons/default/original.gif)

Thanks for the updates (IMG:style_emoticons/default/original.gif)

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Summary

One of those “leave your brain at the door” type action movies that works in it’s own playpen. I didn’t want to think too much about some of the dodgy logic going down, that way lies plot holes big enough to fall into, and hence had an enjoyable couple of hours of movie mayhem and hotter than hot Scarlett Johansson babe-a-luscious perving. Gwyneth was ringing all my bells as well to be honest. I had a good time and rocked out to the movie, which is surprising really as I found the first Iron Man outing disappointing.

Iron Man 2 has opened Down Under, a week before North America, and has thus far managed $7 million. Clearly we’re got a blockbuster going down, without help from Imax or 3D cinemas it should be noted, but I have a vague notion that Distributor Paramount might be a tad disappointed with the result. The movie should have a reasonable month long run but will not catch early year leader Alice In Wonderland that looks to have cracked $38 million through it’s ninth weekend.

If you enjoy superhero flicks then dive on into Iron Man 2, but remember the middle block of the movie is likely to have teens checking their cell phones waiting on the next action scene. Not the best movie of the year, but an enjoyable enough distraction from the real world. I’m up for the next installment based on this one.

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So how bad was the K9 spin off series (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mf_popcorn.gif) That has to be one of the worse ideas I have ever heard of (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mf_hide.gif)

Just when you think you can comfortably say the NRL (National Rugby League) have cleaned up their act along comes yet another scandal involving a sport that simply doesn't get the whole PR thing. Overnight the Melbourne Storm, League's great expierament in the AFL heartland, has been shown to have wilfully breached the salary cap year in year out with full knowledge of Management and Senior Players. Seems they have been paying through the nose for match day facilities that were already covered by their contacts. Not that the money was in any way waisted, it went to pay original and international stars that the club has acquired from New South Wales and Queensland. To date the Storm have not produced a single local player at the NRL level.

David Gallop, CEO of the NRL, and his board to their credit have taken immediate draconian measures to send a message to all NRL franchise that sort of thing is totally non acceptable on Gallop's watch. The Storm have been stripped of all titles won over the last five years and will not receive any points from matches for the rest of the 2010 season. Hey just glass the chunts and introduce the Bears in 2011 Dave!

Brian Waldron who ran the club for five years before resigning in January to go cross town to the new Melbourne Rebels S15 franchise is being held responsable for the Storm situation. The Rebels franchise, set to join the expanded S15 competition in 2011, have immediatly stood down Waldron.

Interesting times for League considering the Storm have been losing money hand over fist down South year in year out. I'm waiting for Super Bogan Murdoch to start kicking bums, the Storm are owned 100% by News Limited.

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Summary

I stand by my decision to wait for the DVD of Drag Me To Hell. The flick was far too teen-orientated and by the numbers for this wild colonial boy. While I didn’t hate the film, and it was decent Friday night movie fodder, I didn’t come away from it with any fond memories either. Just another run of the mill Hollywood teen horror flick for mine; if Raimi hadn’t directed the flick it wouldn’t have got the buzz it did prior to opening. Nowhere near the classic people are claiming, and certainly not the best horror flick of 2009.

Prior to Drag Me To Hell getting a cinema release, the word was that this could be the big box office event of the horror calendar – guess folks had forgotten about New Moon. Raimi’s movie started well but then kind of died on its arse as the great unwashed weighed in with their opinion, which is always going to be far more influential than online reviewers can hope for. In the wash-up, Drag Me To Hell made $42.1 in North America, and a total of $86.1 worldwide. Considering the flick cost $30 million to produce that’s not a good result for Universal.

I’m going to be out on my own here, once again, but am not prepared to offer any sort of a recommendation for Drag Me To Hell. It’s another ho hum teen horror outing that appeals to horror light fans that simply don’t get the dark psychological movies that are the cream of the dark genre. If nothing better to do then hunker down and catch Raimi’s latest – it is better than the majority of horror flicks coming out of Boredwood in 2009, but end of day that’s not hard to achieve. You would have to drag me down to watch this flick again. Next on the Hollywood conveyor belt is ….

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Summary

It’s been quite some wait for Lake Mungo to arrive in any shape or form in regional Australia. Naturally we didn’t get a cinema release – heaven forbid that there might be people who want to see something not from Hollywood or with Baz Luhrmann’s sticky fingers on it. And the DVD retailers are not stocking the movie. Thank god for the internet and online purchasing options. For mine, the film was well worth waiting for, and it’s rapidly gone into my top five local horror releases for 2009. Joel Anderson has managed to turn in something completely original and I was lapping it up.

Naturally Lake Mungo didn’t take any awards this year – heaven forbid we should support our local horror industry even when they get it right in any shape or form. As opposed to the movie that did take home a swag of awards, Lake Mungo has already been optioned with undue haste by Hollywood for a 2011 remake. That’s right kids, Boredwood now not only believes their own audiences are too stupid to read title cards but that they won’t understand foreign accents even when speaking English. My suggestion to North American readers: boycott the remake and get your hands on the original – you know they will water it down with a single I.Q. replacement plot anyway. As to the movie taking home the awards this year, well, no wonder the local industry doesn’t gather a huge percentage of market share.

Full recommendation on Lake Mungo, a must watch movie for anyone who loves a good ghost story. It’s involving, comes at you at different angles, and doesn’t lose sight of its primary goal. Take a trip to the Lake, and see what’s waiting for you.

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Sushi has taken most Countries by storm, there’s something daring in eating raw fish with heavy amounts of radish that brings out the Western Samurai in us all. Besides which it tastes bloody good, is low on the carbs, and probably is simply brimming with goodness and free radicals (or whatever the latest upmarket fad is). Naturally your average Bogue has noticed all the rich people scarfing down sushi, and along side the iPod, iPhone, and designer take out coffee container, the Bogue desires to emulate the eating habitats of the fabulously market driven consumers. One problem however, Bogues may claim they like sushi but in all reality can’t stand the notion of eating raw fish with a hot ingrediant.



Naturally enterprising people, generally of the Asian persuasion, have noted the lingering looks of the hordes of Bogues and have jettison all thoughts of traditional sushi goodness in favour of ripping an easy $5 note from Bogue wallets. Can’t say I blame them and at least the latest useless Apple gadget isn’t getting the lion’s share of naive disposable upwardly mobile wallets. Firstly it was deduced that Bogues, while wanting to appear adventurist, don’t really like the hot goodness of wasabi, so out that goes. Next traditional soy sauce is kept back for people who might appreciate it, replaced by a sugared concoction more appealing to Bogue pallets. And finally forget that raw fish nonsense, Bogues want chicken snitz and the like in their sushi. I’m actually waiting on some enterprising sushi stand to start offering lamb chop rolls, bloody beautiful mate, and hold the rice and seaweed rapping.



Naturally Bogues don’t want lunch boxes, so sushi has been compartmentalised to the ubiquitous sushi roll, and the trend has spread like wildfire to all areas containing a critical mass of Bogues who want to try some of that Japanese “shit”. It does allow the Bogue to hold her head up high and claim she is having Japanese for lunch while squirting an extra amount of tomato sauce onto her authentic hot chip sushi roll.

Sometimes I think here on the plains of Boganvilla that somehow we have discovered the secret of time travel and have miraculously gone back into the past. Sort of like Jurassic Bogan Park or something equally mundane. The local Bogan population unerringly seems to have the ability to bring things a decade or so in the past into the present, and of course miss the whole bloody point in doing so. Let me demonstrate via a recent observation.

About a decade ago, or it could have been fifteen, I’m definitely not going any more than twenty years, I was spending a rather pleasant Saturday afternoon upgrading a client’s computer operating system. This was back in the days of mini computers where an upgrade could take quite a number of hours, sort of like currently with Microsoft rebuilds. Anywise my client was entertaining me with stories about what his teenage son had been up to. Seems the latest craze, and this was over a decade ago for those with low attention spans, was to wear a pair of low rider baggy jeans to show off the trademark of your reg grundies*. My client and I both agreed the look was particularly naff, but hey it’s a teenager’s work requirement to shock the older generation by their outlandish apparel, no matter how gay or market driven that apparel may be.

A bit of research, i.e. I consulted my local Fahionista, elicited the information that Calvin Klein had run a successful advertising campaign involving various photoshoped models showing off their Calvin Klein undie labels through the use of specially designed jeans. Naturally the youth grabbed the whole rebellious nature of the idea, Calvin Klein himself was a noted barricade builder during various Parisian Student demonstrations, and ran with it. Well they would of if the sagging jeans allowed them to move faster than a sort of awkward shuffle. Naturally a jeans manufacture seized the opportunity to further enhance the look with the now defunct “low rider” jeans. Vogue has a lot to answer for in my mind.

Flash forward to the present on the Boganvilla savannah and imagine my shock when confronted by Bogans showing off their reg grundies! It’s like a fashion acid flashback folks, I’m still recovering. Seems there is a whole sub class of Bogan who is driven by something approach a sense of fashion, or perhaps an unwillingness to wait till the end of the NRL season to see which jersey they should purchase. Now while I applaud a sense of style, or extreme retro stupidity in this case, I just have to point out a few things our fashion conscious Bogans seem to have got completely wrong. Firstly the undie label should be for Calvin Klein or some other boutique budgie smuggler* rather than for the generic brand undie that came out of a six pack you picked up at a discount price at Kmart. Equally wrangler normal fit jeans don’t really come up to scratch, especially when it looks like your beer gut has broken the waist band and the only thing holding up the grime infested garment is a dodgy looking faux leather belt. And final at no time should poo stained undies be used! Can someone glass these chunts and put them out of their fashion misery?

* Reg grundies, budgie smuggler – Aussie slang for male underwear.

There's bound to have been a few glassings involved there ....

Yes we are still in the business of talking ... lots and lots.

A certain new site coolness is coming, more on that later, but old timers are going to make wee wee when they find out about it.

Introducing "Extreme Bogan Hunter" ... from the plains of Boganvilla to your desk top, this may mean never getting glassed in a pub again.

Did I mention games? We'll be upgrading to 3.x in due course and getting a completely brand new shiney games module with super new games.

Not long to wait ...

7:30pm - 8:33pm | ABC1 PG Adventure, Closed Captions
An action-packed first episode, in which the new Doctor must deal with a wrecked TARDIS, a destroyed sonic screwdriver, and just 20 minutes to save the world - with only Amy Pond to help him.

They are like the Borg, infiltrating everywhere, talent not a requirement.

Right I'm off to glass some count with the silent o