Maroon 5 + One Republic Touring

Maroon 5 is coming back to Australia and they're taking One Republic with them as well. One Republic is a new comer but their single Apologize with Timbaland is currently number 1 in Australian charts. That single also made world record for being the most played song in a week over in UK (over than 10,000 times).

On top of the two acts, local musician will also support the concert (looks like a jam-packed concert). Both Brandi Carlile and Ry Cuming will also be supporting Maroon 5.

Here are the concert details:

• 28/03 - Perth
  
• 30/03 - Melbourne
• 31/04 - Adelaide
  
• 02/04 - Brisbane
  
• 04/04 - Sydney
  
• 06/06 - Auckland (NZ)

I still remember when I first attended their concert (when they were not 'so famous'), it was only at a small venue in Crown Casino. They then progressed to a bigger space in West Melbourne for their next show and now they're playing Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. How amazing.

Anyway, there is pre-sale happening for Frontier Member (the touring company) and it's at 3pm Tuesday, 4th of December until 3pm the next day. The catch is you need to register with Frontier Touring (which is not a big deal).

Further details for the concert and pre-sale on Frontier's website.

picture from www.frontiertouring.com.au

New Melbourne Public Transport Fares 2008

Another year, another increase in public transport price. Well, that's fine but WHERE IS THE BLOODY TRAIN ? Starting from next year, all tickets will have a new price even though the train service is really not reliable (at all). Anyway, the increase affects all and not just train so let us put our anger aside.

So back to the increase. Average increase will be 2.1% in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). V/Line fares will also increase by this much. As an example, in the new year a daily ticket (zone 1) will set you back $6.50 (increase by 20 cents).

However, there will be a new card being introduced next year in April. It's called 5 x Weekend Daily Metcard. This card allows you to run around on Saturday or Sunday. It is sort of like the Sunday Saver that we've got at the moment but you can use it on Saturday as well.

Unfortunately, there will be no Saturday Saver metcard (single ones) so you cannot buy them individually (must be in a pack of 5). A pack of 5 costs $14.50, which is a huge savings if you only use transport on weekends.

Sunday Saver will also be increased to $2.90, the first increase ever since the ticket was introduced back in 2004. For a full list of the increase, check the Metlink website here.

pictures from metlinkmelbourne.com.au
metcard logo is trademarked

Apple Sale

Apple Australia is holding its annual online sale this FRIDAY (30th Nov). So make sure you mark it down on your diary. The sale is only for ONE DAY only.

The sale follows Apple sale in the US last week during Thanksgiving, normally known as Black Friday. You could say it is the equivalent of Boxing Day here in Australia.

The discounts should be closely similar to the US sale. The US sale includes the following items:

• iMac, MacBook
• iPod classic, nano, shuffle
  
• Airport Extreme Base Station and Express Base Station
• Wireless Mighty Mouse
  
• LaCie mini Hard Drive & HUB 500GB
  
• M-Audio KeyStudio 49,M-Audio Studiophile AV20 Speakers
  
• Apple Bluetooth Headset
  
• iLife '08, iWork '08, Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 , Microsoft Office
  
• All items include free shipping.

Remember that this was the list for the US sale and not the Australian one. This list is provided as an indication only. Last year the sale follows the US sale very closely. Shop here.

Australia: You Have Decided

Well, congratulations to both Prime Minister Rudd which was elected on Saturday and Natalie Gauci which was voted to be the 2007 Australian Idol winner last night. In a weekend of voting, Australia decided whose face they want to see more on TV and whose voice they want to hear most.

Election 07
PM Rudd won the election fairly comfortably. He got plenty of seats and some say his win was historic. Well, it's kind of historic considering that there were a few seats that was taken over by his party from the Liberal.

The biggest loser on Saturday night was the Liberal party. John Howard not only lost the government, he also lost his seat. He wanted to create history by becoming the PM for the fourth time in a row but instead he made a history in another way (by losing his seat and his government). Peter Costello however, still retains his seat but made a statement to everybody that he will not be the leader of the Liberal party and now the party seems to be in a bit of mess.

Congratulations again PM Rudd, and we hope that you keep your promises and be a wise leader.

Australian Idol
On a lighter note, Natalie Gauci from Melbourne has won Australian Idol beating Matt Corby, the show favourite. She won just hours away from her birthday, making the win a sweet birthday present.

I think it's great that she won and not Matt Corby. Matt is a really really talented boy and it didn't matter whether he came second or first last night because I'm pretty sure he'll be around the (music) industry. But I do have something to say about the boy. He's been wearing the ugliest stuff throughout the competition. The outfit he wore on grand final (when he was performing) was a tight red pants and it sure made him look like Santa's elves but hey if he can pull it off, that's fine by me.

Natalie's winner single, Here I Am is on sale today. You can grab them here.

It can also be downloaded on Telstra Bigpond Music (other online retailers will get it on Monday). She will also be touring on the new year and tickets for that will be available on Monday. For more details, check the website australianidol.com.au

pictures from theage.com.au, heraldsun.com.au

Christmas = Shopping

Christmas is coming soon, less than 40 days as a matter of fact. What does that mean ? It means that you need to get your gifts sorted with all the upcoming Christmas parties. Well, not to worry cause if you get things early, you will be able to avoid the Christmas rush.

Retailers are already starting their Christmas sale and some even have special VIP night. Take advantage of this cause you won't find any other deal near Christmas time.

Anyway, here are the list of VIP/shopping nights that I know. Hope this helps with the gift-buying.

Myer - all stores
20th November
5.30pm - 10pm
Discounts throughout the stores (normal Myer discounts) including 20% off toys, 10% electronics, 40% books and so on.

Chadstone Shopping Centre
21st November
9am - midnight
15 hours of VIP shopping event with discounts up to 60% off. There are refreshments, hand massaged, hair styling, mini makeovers, and so on. For full list of offers, click here (or here on pdf).

Brand Smart Factory Outlet
22nd November
6.30pm - 9.30pm
Beach party VIP night with discounts up to 70% off and summer cocktails on arrival, lucky draw and plenty of entertainment throughout the night. No full discount list as yet. For location details, click here.

Voting Week

This week is BIG for Australia. It is voting week. It is the week where Australia decides its new prime minister and its new Australian Idol.

Federal Election
This is happening next Saturday, the 24th of November. Instructions have been sent out to household on the method to vote. Basically you'll get two papers, white and green, and there are different instructions on how to fill them.

And by the end of the day, Australia will know whether they will have a new prime minister or the same old one.

I think Australia need a new leader and Kevin Rudd is perfect for it. However, I'm just not pretty sure about his staff. I believe John Howard is old school but I think he has stronger staff. But the problem of voting John Howard is that in a couple of years, you'll get Peter Costello, which I don't think cut it to become a PM. He's a nice guy though but for some reason, I wouldn't want him to be the PM. I think it is still 50-50. There is still a chance for both parties to win.

One thing that I find impressive of Kevin Rudd is his willingness to appear at television and radio shows (FM not AM). This might be his strategy to reach young people votes and I think it's working. He showed up at Rove Live yesterday, this morning at 9am and Fox FM breakfast show. Even though he was still careful in answering all the questions, he was more relaxed and it's not really boring to listen or watch him. He did avoided Rove question on who would he turn gay for but I think he would have been in a big trouble if he did.

Australian Idol
After several weeks of Idol competition, it comes down to the final two, Matt Corby and Natalie Gauci. Their last performance was last night, and they previewed the winner's song as well. The announcement will be on Sunday night at the Opera House.

I would say that both singers are pretty good. I want Natalie to win though because I think she's got a great voice and her fashion sense is way better than Matt. I think the winner's song sounded nicer from her. Don't get me wrong, I think Matt is fantastic as well. He's 17 and multi talented. He can perform with a pyjama and the girls will still adore him.

Anyway, we'll know the result soon enough. In the betting market, Matt is tipped to win. If you missed out with their last performance, you can still check it out at the Idol website.

picture from theage.com.au, australianidol.com.au

Hamish to Beat Katie Holmes [UPDATED]

Hamish from Hamish and Andy said on the show last week that Katie Holmes record of 5-and-a-half hour on a marathon recently in New York was rubbish and believe that he can beat her time. Andy, being a good friend, offered Hamish to try it out (do the whole marathon - 42km) and prove it that he can be Katie Holmes. This is on TODAY (Monday).

At the moment, Hamish is running on the tracks in Albert Park with Andy following up the back in a golf cart. Their show will start at 4pm and by 5.20pm, they will know whether Hamish has indeed beat Katie Holmes. If you want, you can go there and cheer him on.

Anyway, to listen to their show last week, you can podcast them here and don't forget to tune into their show this afternoon to check the result. This will be fun.

UPDATE
Hamish has finished the marathon and beat Katie's record in the marathon. He has finished 5 minutes earlier than Katie's time. Congratulation Hamish. I really didn't think that you could do it but you did. Amazing.

iiNet Naked DSL Coming Soon

For most of us, to get a fast internet connection, we need to get ADSL. The first requirement to have an ADSL is a phone line. Getting a phone line means that we need to pay line rental every month. That obviously makes sense but nowadays there is not a lot of people that is still using home phones but they still want the internet connection.

This is going to change soon with the introduction of Naked DSL service, which basically means that you can connect your ADSL internet service without connecting your phone line. This basically saves you $30 a month.

iiNet is one of the internet service provider (ISP) that will do this. They have been trialling the service to a number of customers and it is going well. As a result, they will launch the naked DSL pretty soon. To get more info, iiNet has launched a website for this new product, http://www.gonaked.com.au/ or http://www.iinet.net.au/gonaked.

You can register your interest there and find out more about the naked DSL. I think it will launch end of November. I think it's a great product but customer need to realise that they will not have a home phone so any service that is associated with a phone (faxing, etc) will not work. Another downside is that you will not have a reliable line to call emergency (triple-0) if such a need arise.

24 Season 7

The TV drama hit series, 24, is coming back next year for another season. It will premiere on the 13th of January 2008 in the US. The trailer for the new season has been released and can be viewed here.

However, I'm not sure whether the recent protest by the writers in Hollywood will effect the show. I have read somewhere that 24 will be one of the show that will be affected. I guess we could only wait and see.

Halo Proposal

Keeping with the subject of love today, a guy has proposed to a girl through the popular Xbox360 game, Halo 3.

The guy (Moviesign) created a special map in the game and asked her (furtive penguin) to join in the battle with his mates. He then brought her to a spot to get a certain item (to power up or something). The item was not there but proposal was. He used weapons to create the Marry Me? sign.

She said yes by the way.

Love is a Beautiful Thing

Everybody in this world wants to be loved and love someone. This man, Patrick Moberg, from the US saw a girl of his dream when he was riding the subway. He couldn't gather enough courage to ask her there and then for her name and number but that didn't let him down or stop him entirely.

He went and created a website to search for this girl. The website is called www.nygirlofmydreams.com. On the website, he put this drawing:

Well, everyone helped him out, people passed the website around and even the media helped him out. In the end, his search was not in vain, the girl was found, her friend recognised her and texted him to confirm. She is a Melbourne girl which is doing an internship in New York.

Anyway, cut the long story short, the pair decided to meet up and the website has been closed. He put this as his parting message.
"Here's where it gets tricky. In our best interest, there will be no more updates to this website. Unlike all the romantic comedies and bad pop songs, you'll have to make up your own ending for this''

Here is an interview with the guy.

Horrible Mix Up

The love from parents to their child is an amazing thing. In the UK, a mom booked in a stripper to perform at the school on the son's 16th birthday.

First, the mom told the teacher that there will be a '"birthday surprise" that is going to walk in during class. On the actual day, the teacher told everybody in class that there will be a surprise and yes it was a real surprise.

A stripper (or adult performer) came in with a policewoman outfit and spanked the birthday boy 16 times (for the 16th birthday) for being naughty and not doing his homework. She then dance and strip to her underwear.

As if that is not embarrassing (or hilarious) enough, the "performer" took out a cream out of her bag and asked the birthday boy to rub it all over her. At this point, the teacher had enough and stopped the whole thing.

The birthday boy then ran outside the class after this little "incident".

This little "incident" happened in Nottingham. Don't believe me ? Well, read the actual news at The Times. Well, apparently a man in a gorilla costume is suppose to come and it is believed that the mom made a booking error.

I'd say that's the best birthday present a mom could ever get her 16 year old son.

Chopstick Bra ? What the ... ? [UPDATED]

I never doubt that Japanese are a bunch of innovative people. Well, their latest "invention" is a bra that can help the environment. How can a bra help the environment ? The simple answer is by reducing the use of disposable chopsticks.

That answer might prove to be the most puzzling statement ever so let us elaborate. Triumph Japan (the underwear company) made a bra that incorporate a small pouch to store comes with chopsticks. As you would know, everybody uses chopsticks in Japan and the most common chopsticks available if you are eating out is the disposable one (the wooden one).

Apparently, Japanese people realise that this is creating a lot of waste so there is a trend now to "carry your own" chopsticks in bags.

Anyway, this is what the bra looks like :

The pouch is on the side strap (if you are looking for it). The bra is decorated with a bowl of rice and a bowl of miso soup, the chopsticks are in between the bowl/cups and it's collapsible. We know that the pouch has a purpose but I have no idea why they put the fake rice and miso soup there.

I am not sure whether the pouch is on both straps although the picture sure indicates that way. If it is then the ladies can carry 2 pair of chopsticks, perhaps for reserve or for the partner.

But I believe this bra is flawed. There is no fashionable way to take out the chopsticks (from the bra) when you want to use it other than going inside the shirt/blouse/dress and pulling it out. A lot of problems can occur here, chopsticks might get stuck and not considering the hygiene issues.

Unfortunately (or fortunately ?), the bra is not available for sale (yet?) so at least for know we still need to carry our chopsticks in our bags or someplace else.

picture from heraldsun.com.au, gizmodo.com.au

Krispy Kreme Offer

There is an offer for you Krispy Kreme lover. On Melbourne Cup Day (this Tuesday by the way), if you purchase any one dozen doughnuts between 10am and 12pm you will get another dozen of Original Glazed™ FREE.

MacBook Upgrade [Updated]

Apple has quietly update their MacBook line. The MacBook now uses the Santa Rosa chipset (in English: newer model) which has a faster 800 MHz front side bus.

The video card uses the new Intel GMA X3100. Australian store has NOT been updated to reflect this upgrade (the US store has the new models) however the MacBook information page has been changed. So, I'm not sure whether the pricing point will change (considering the strong Aussie dollar).

The new models specifications are:

• White - 2.0GHz/1GB RAM/80GB/Combo/GMA X3100 - $1599
  
• White - 2.2GHz/1GB RAM/120GB/SD-DL/GMA X3100 - $1899
  
• Black - 2.2GHz/1GB RAM/160GB/SD-DL/GMA X3100 - $2199
  

Click here to go to Apple Store.

UPDATE
Apple Store Australia now has the new MacBook. Prices is added above.

Games Expo

There will be 2 games expo in the coming weeks for Melbourne. One is Game1 Expo and the other is eGames 07.

Game1 Expo
The expo will be held on the 10th and 11th of November at Melbourne Exhibition Centre in Southbank. It will run concurrently with the Auto Salon expo so buying one ticket allows you to go to the other event.

There will be PC LAN and Xbox360 tournament on the expo. Registration and details on the website. Entry is $22 per person (gives you entry to the Auto Salon as well).

More info at the website here. This expo will go to Sydney on December (final for the Auto Salon competition).

eGames 07
The following week from Game1, from the 16th to 18th of November, eGames 07 will be on. It is again on the same location (Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Southbank).

This expo will likely have more games content as suppose to the previous one just because this is an expo on its own whereas Game1 is more of a 'shared' expo with the Auto Salon.

The tickets are $16 for adults, $13 for child/concessions, $38 for family (2 adults and 2 child) and $22 for a 2-day pass. More info, go to the website here.