Well hello there! It's been a while (again). Sorry, I've been at the Olympics.

Just kidding! I haven't really. I've been watching it from bed most nights, well into the wee hours (yawn!) Michael Phelps gives new meaning to the word 'ambitious'. I'm feeling decidedly lazy in the shadow of his achievements. Really sad for Grant Hackett and so proud of the efforts of the girls in the pool. And how hot is Stephanie Rice right now? Sizzling. Not sure I agree with her decision to strip off for FHM (or whatever mens mag that was) before the games. Not necessary.

Just before I go, did you hear about Virgin's shares dropping by a whopping 54.7%. Imagine how stressful that would be for the CEO Brett Godfrey - just saw him on the TV and he looked like a man under enormous pressure. That's what they get paid the big bucks for.

Must dash. Will be back with more frequency soon. xx

My son Jonah's class needed parents to bring in treats for a special morning tea this morning. I had a great idea - bake some brownies myself, instead of ducking into the cake shop on the way to school drop off. I was feeling all Martha Stewart while making up the batch - Jonah helping me mix, licking the spoon... the picture of domestic bliss. I felt good about how frugal I was being too. $5 to make the batch versus probably $12 to buy. So far so good. Then things went down hill pretty fast. I think it was all in the timing. Iced too soon (while the cake was still warm) coupled with having iced while still in the tin dish - oops! should have taken the batch out of there beforehand. Damn. Panic. Tip it out, of course it lands on the iced top and because it's still warm, only half the cake comes out.... This was not one of my better ideas.

Then don't join ticketmaster. Which is impossible if you want to purchase tickets through them. Why you ask? This privacy policy:

As a Ticketmaster user, you agree that Ticketmaster may contact you by email or other means and use and disclose the information you submit, as described in the Ticketmaster Privacy Policy.If you would like to opt-out of receiving a particular type of email at this email address, then please click here to unsubscribe. Please note that you may still receive emails from event providers (e.g., venues, teams, artists, promoters and leagues) to whom Ticketmaster discloses your email address as described in the Ticketmaster Privacy Policy.


Take note of the last sentence in particular - even if you opt out of receiving any future correspondence, their third parties can still send you emails.

I found this out this past week when I began getting really annoying emails (from like Guthy Renker) and I was thinking, 'how in the hell did these people get my email address?' which prompted some investigating. The ticketmaster sign up was to blame. So now I am pissed off, because I really hate getting unsolicited emails and I feel like I've been tricked. Is that even legal? I'm going to find out. Grrrrr...

Let you know. x

It's been a while. I'm sorry if I've kept you hanging. It's been a hectic week coupled with the fact that blog.com has been playing up. I sent a high priority status support needed email on the 3rd but I haven't received a response. I'd hate to see what the response time would be if it was a general status - at this rate I'd suspect you'd be waiting until December.

So I think I'm going to move this blog over to wordpress. Don't worry, I'll put a link from here to there when it's set up.

Got to be brief, I'm on the hop again. I'll be back soon with some interesting stuff, promise. x

Must share this with you. An exchange between a gen Y employee and me:

Back story: been out, expected 'XYZ' done when I returned. I return and 'YZ' is not done and this is the explanation:

"Oh, I was going to do 'Y & Z' but you know, I was just like, so tired you know".

To which I replied, "Oh that's ok I know how you feel - I was going to pay you $100 today but I can only be bothered to pay you $50".

Well, I wish I had said that. I didn't. It was one of those moments when I thought of the best thing to say after the fact. Don't you hate that!

THEY have watched their partners' skills and strategy on the footie field, but it's the wiley manoeuvres used by other female fans that have WAGs Terry Biviano and Melissa Seymour teaming up to tell all in a new tome.

Biviano, partnered with Sydney Rooster Anthony Minichiello, and Seymour, married to Sydney Swan Mark Seymour, are planning to dish the dirt on what it's like to watch wannabes make a play for their boofy blokes with an insider's guide to WAGdom in the works.

The shoe queen will make her literary debut with the book, leaning on Seymour, who released her Girls' Guide to Turning Your Idea Into Business in April.

_______

Get it? Mark Seymour is from Hunters & Collectors, my husband is Brad Seymour. Poor Brad, they get his name wrong and then call him 'boofy'!

For the record, the book is not that salacious.

(sigh) I didn't make the list but here are some of the ones who did (mostly people who actually don't have to pay for their clothes and have stylists create their important (daily) looks)......

Top Ten Women:
• H.R.H. Crown Princess Mathilde of Belgium
• Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
• Julia Koch
• Evelyn Lauder
• Kate Middleton
• Michelle Obama
• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Tilda Swinton
• Diana Taylor
• Ivanka Trump

Top Ten Men:
• David Beckham
• Daniel Craig
• Lapo Elkann
• H.S.H. Prince Heinrich von und zu Fürstenberg
• Count Manfredi della Gherardesca
• Zac Goldsmith
• Matt Lauer
• Bryan Lourd
• Morley Safer
• Kanye West

Do you know all of those guys? I have only heard of 4 of them.

Sigh (again), now they've made the list, they will get more free clothes, shoes, alcohol, accessories, mobiles, ipods, travel, accommodation...... the way the world goes 'round.

 

 

 

 

From the UK Times.... See the second incident involving Christian Bale - at 12 he was showing signs of explosive behaviour.

War of the Worlds

(Steven Spielberg, 2005)

Tom Cruise's couch acrobatics on The Oprah Winfrey Show took the shine off the release. Cruise's decision to sack his long-term publicist and employ his Scientologist sister was blamed by many.

Empire of the Sun

(Steven Spielberg, 1987)

A 12-year-old Christian Bale decided that he had had enough and stormed out of a press conference in Paris.

The Lost Weekend

(Billy Wilder, 1945)

Warner Bros publicist Jim Moran decided to promote Wilder's serious drama about alcoholism by trying to get a hoot owl drunk, to test the American idiom “as drunk as a hoot owl”.

Nine Months

(Chris Columbus, 1995)

On the eve of the release of his rom-com, Hugh Grant was arrested in Hollywood for soliciting the services of prostitute Divine Brown. The story got Grant acres of coverage - and Nine Months flopped.

Fahrenheit 9/11

(Michael Moore, 2004)

Moore arrived in Cannes to promote the film that went on to win the Palme d'Or. Unfortunately, he behaved like such a prima donna that his PR team resigned.