cyberspace junkyard

Idol Scoreboard - Disco
I've added a judge to the scoreboard. Found myself yelling at the screen at them more than any of the contestants. Did I mention how disinterested I feel about the whole series at the moment? Waahhhh - I want Paulini, Bek, Guy... even Cosima!

Loving
Anthony (hanging in there up the top)
Ricki-Lee (please look after your voice)
Chanel (disco is so not your thing)

Liking
Casey (getting better...)

Meh
Courtney (woops, back to the meh for you)
Hayley (was this just a case of "history repeating"?)

Dislike
Daniel
Emilia

Ugh
Marty
Marcia

Idol Scoreboard - 60's week
Hmmm... this was a bit of a non-event. I was watching the tape back wondering whether Zoolander was still showing, and that's not a good thing.

Anyway, the scores on the cumulative "impress-Vron-o-meter" are...

Loving
Chanel (don't talk, just sing)
Anthony (hanging in there up the top)

Liking
Ricki-Lee (tonight didn't help, but still up there)
Courtney (starting to get him a little more)

Meh
Amali (losing the like)
Casey (the heading says it all)
Hayley (I think I've narrowed the prob down to your eyeshadow)

Dislike
Daniel

Ugh
Marty
Emilia

Idol Scoreboard
For some reason, despite what should be complete and utter exhaustion after a HUGE weekend, I am wide awake after watching the Australian Idol episode I taped earlier. Obsession? Nah!

Pretty diverse bunch of songs, as they have been every week. After tonight's performance, here's what I think on my cumulative "impress-Vron-o-meter".

Loving
Chanel (a fave since the beginning)
Anthony (keeps getting better)

Liking
Ricki-Lee (fun)
Amali (just get comfortable, girl!)

Meh
Courtney (dunno why, can't get into your performances)
Casey (not bad but don't see what all the fuss is about)
Hayley (song choice has been your saviour)
Dan O'Connor (I want to like you, but please stop swallowing your words)

Dislike
Daniel Belle (please sing in tune)
Marty (like your voice& songs but alas, just don't like you)

Ugh
Emilia (don't get me started)

I'm dreaming of my first holiday since starting my new job. Where to go, where to go? Do I take two weeks in November or wait a bit longer til I can take 3 or 4 weeks in May? A culturally rich experience overseas or a DIY adventure locally? Oh, the indecision is killing me. What was the last great holiday you had?

Classic. Furniture addicts will either laugh (or cry!) at this, from the Sydney Morning Herald.

Tragic Ikea packs 'em in
Ikea fever has proved fatal. Last week three men were killed in a stampede when the first Ikea store opened in Saudi Arabia. Reuters reports thousands of people camped overnight to be first inside.
It is a sad fact of modern global life that a shop selling boring Swedish furniture, endowed with ridiculous names like Klackbo and Billy, would provoke such insane fervour. The insatiable desire of humanity to acquire another Oddvar stool or Stromling dish drainer this year earned Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad the dubious title of world's richest man.
The Ikea SupaCenta at Moore Park trades its socks off, with 28,000 tragics braving traffic gridlock every weekend.
And for what? Shopping at Ikea is hell. Like a casino, there are no windows or clocks. There is one exit and it can only be reached by walking for hours in the designated Ikea direction through the Ikea maze of phony bedrooms and living rooms, with little pencils at strategic intervals so you can jot down gobbledygook attached to objects you desire, before being handed an Ikea map and ordered to retrieve your object "down the road". After hours lost in Zetland, you arrive at a vast hangar only to be told to "take a number". And that's before you even attempt to assemble the thing at home.
Ikea is an infuriating amalgam of Swedish socialist bureaucracy and rampant consumerism. All the form-filling and queuing is designed to send right-brained people mad. And with the southern hemisphere's largest Ikea store due to open in Homebush Bay in December we need to ask: How many Olafs does one city need?