| 10 Jun 2009 - More High Speed Analysis for the Conversationalist on the Run |
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1. Come Off it Kev...
The Prime Minister's sudden foray into Bazza MacKenzie speak is ridiculous. Bob Hawke could choose his colloquialisms according to the company he was keeping at the time and get away with it. Kevin Rudd doesn't have that knack. "Fair shake of the sauce bottle"...? What next? Is he going to start referring to Julia Gillard and Maxine McKew as "sheilas"... and Therese Rein as "the missus"...? As for referring to John Faulkner as "Faulks"... do me a favor. I've always thought of the Senator as a smart, tough operator. But anyone less of a "Faulks" I can't imagine.
2. Scammers...
There seem to be more than the usual number of bank and credit card email scams right now... and the quality is up. Was a time when the bad spelling and ludicrous grammar made you wonder how anyone could be taken in, but not now. I recently rang the Commonwealth Bank on their praise or comments number - got straight through to a real human being. Full marks. You don't have to be a customer to get one of these things. Example: today I received an offer to win a Porsche Cayenne for completing a survey as a St. George customer. Which I'm not. Be nice to know of a way to get these damned nuisances where they live. Maybe experienced net nerds know how. Unfortunately I don't.
3. Activist Actor...
I'm always wary of actors/singers/comics who comment on anything outside their own core activity of actually acting/singing/being funny. But others have told me over the years they are as entitled as anyone to their opinions. Most performers (although not all, by any means) seem to be left leaning. But earlier today our time, Hollywood veteran, father of Angelina Jolie and all round interesting man Jon Voight had a real go at Obama. He said among other things that the President is "a false prophet" and - as Hilary Clinton warned during the election - "naive" on foreign policy. Voight no doubt now goes on to the least likely to be invited to MC the next White House ball list. No comment so far from Angelina.
4. More Obama...
Gerard Henderson goes into depth on issues I touched on recently in one of my drive by pieces where I commented on Baracks's electrifying speechifying aimed at ordinary folks and how during the campaign it wasn't considered nice to refer to his middle name. (Apparently now it's a plus - depending on who's in the room at the time, I guess).
5. Reaction to Ramsay Rant Ricochets around World...
The man for whom the term Shock Jock was coined, US broadcaster Howard Stern, said years ago: "Standards have never been lower, and I'm ready for them". Howard was right not to say that standards couldn't get lower. They did. But does the response to the Ramsay rant mean that we have finally hit bottom when it comes to how much piggishness is too much in the eternal quest for ratings? The figures will tell. It's beyond argument that Ramsay is a boor. It's also likely that his recent apology is driven more by commercial concern than heartfelt contrition. However some of the current condemnation comes with suspect motives. For example: why is the Prime Minister bothering to buy in to this, if not for whatever publicity it affords him? And as for the cliche Queen of All Media Perez Hilton... he's the one who called a young woman a "dumb bitch" and said he really wanted to call her "the 'c' word" for disagreeing with his point of view. What a hypocrite.
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