Luke Buckmaster has one word to describe the second installment of the Twilight films: lame. New Moon is a cheesy soap opera jazzed up by a half-assed supernatural twist.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Before they were parents…
My Parents Were Awesome collects photos of people’s parents when they were still young and child-free. Celebrate your folks’ youth and vitality before you came along and ruined it all.
Cash for tweets: advertisers now recruiting Twitter users
Is that an ad or a tweet? It’s getting harder to tell, as advertisers pay regular Twitter users to post personalised spruiks and links for their products. Will Twitter’s effectiveness as an advertising medium ultimately spoil it?
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Magazine income over the last decade
The Awl graph big US magazines’ circulation revenue versus their ad page sales, with some interesting results: contrary to popular wisdom, there’s been some actual growth in the industry.
Who’s eating Madagascar’s lemurs?
Madagascar’s lemurs are one of the area’s biggest tourist drawcards, but illegal loggers and starving locals are hunting the endangered primates for their meat, whilst corrupt police and politicians turn a blind eye.
MasterChef: The Magazine
Looks like Matt Preston’s CD was just the tip of the MasterChef cash-cow-milking iceberg: News Magazines is spinning the hit TV show into a magazine.
Local newsreaders attempt to explain “emo”. Fail.
When news programs attempt to keep up with “da yoof”, hilarity often ensues. Case in point, this round-up of local US news programs warning on the dangers of teen “emo” culture: “the more depressed you look, the more points you earn.”
Milne: The Coalition is surrendering its one hope
If the Coalition agrees to the government’s ETS, it surrenders the one issue it can actually fight an election on, says Glenn Milne. There’s still a broad base of voters out there who don’t believe in climate change to be won over.
Goldman’s empty apology
The NYT calls out Goldman Sachs over its “apology” for its role in causing the global financial crisis: if it were truly sorry, it would have pledged more than a (by its standards) meager $500 million to help out struggling small businesses.
The hottest toy this Christmas: an $8 toy hamster
For once, the hottest toy of the Christmas holidays is something parents can actually afford: $8 toy hamsters called Zhu Zhu Pets are flying off the shelves.
Anniversary journalism (literally): 70 years of The Sunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph celebrated its 70th birthday over the weekend with this walk down memory lane, featuring heart-warming anecdotes like Sir Frank Packer’s constant refrain: “You’re all useless leeches. You’re a pack of bloodsuckers. Get out. You’re all sacked.” Good times.
US edges closer to health reform
The US Senate has voted to begin debating Obama’s health care reforms. It’s another hurdle cleared, but there’s still a long road ahead, with the country — and even the Democratic Party itself — deeply divided over the issue.
The hits and misses of Aussie TV in 2009
2009 was a year of surprise hits for Aussie TV, with MasterChef, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, and the return of Hey Hey all defying the odds. A look back at the television year that was.
Kristof: Microsoft’s Bing is a Chinese propaganda tool
NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof is calling on his readers to boycott Microsoft’s Bing search engine, because it actively censors search results in China on politically sensitive topics like Tienanmen Square and Tibet.
Is Tony Blair a war criminal?
With the Chilcot Inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war soon to go public, one big question must be answered, says Oliver Miles: was this a war of aggression and therefore a war crime?
leaked Documents reveal Blair’s Iraq cover-up
Documents leaked to the Telegraph have revealed Tony Blair mislead British MPs in 2002 by claiming that his goal in invading Iraq was “disarmament, not regime change” and that the military action was unplanned.
Hartcher: Rudd and Turnbull now on the same team
The CPRS debate has resulted in an unholy alliance between Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, says Peter Hartcher. Both are fighting for the same outcome against a common enemy: Coalition conservatives.
Libs push for secret CPRS ballot
At least 29 of the Liberal’s 57 backbenchers want to hold a secret partyroom ballot on the CPRS this week in order to resolve the party’s deep rifts over the issue once and for all.
Stott Despoja: Conscience pollution reduction scheme
Natasha Stott Despoja knows a thing or two about breaking the party line by crossing the floor in Parliament. She looks at how and why some rebel Coalition MPs might follow their hearts over their heads on the emissions trading issue.
Climate deal delayed: just whose side is Macfarlane on?
A CPRS deal between Ian Macfarlane and Penny Wong has been put off until tomorrow, and an impatient Coalition is not happy — especially when they discovered it was their own man who asked for the delay. Is Macfarlane getting too close to the Government? asks Michelle Grattan.
How Vice bucks the trend: by making actual money
Hipster bible Vice magazine is known for its counter-culture convictions, but it’s bucking the mainstream mag trends in more ways than one: by turning advertisers away and turning a healthy profit.
The rocky romance between Rudd and The Australian
Kevin Rudd’s close relationship with The Australian editor Chris Mitchell helped get him into office, says Peter Hartcher, but the honeymoon is now well and truly over.
CPRS deal now just hours away
A deal between Penny Wong and Ian Macfarlane is within sight, with the Government spelling out a timetable to put the deal to Cabinet and Caucus on Monday, writes Bernard Keane.
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Where do immigrants most want to live?
Despite making a big show of being unfriendly to “illegal” immigrants, both Australia and the US are among the most desirable new homes for immigrants.
The hacked emails causing climate sceptic chaos
Hundreds of private emails and documents from climate scientists have been unleashed into the wilds of the internet, and climate sceptics are calling their contents “the greatest scandal in modern science“. Ruth Brown investigates.
