http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/pop-culture/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-sports-movies-have-taught-us-anything-nsw-will-win/ In the classic Hollywood sports flick script, a ragtag bunch of losers and misfits take on the arrogant team of pretty boys and spoilt brats. The bad kids then proceed to teach us all a lesson about sport, life and the triumph of the human spirit or some such baloney. Act One of this script will be played out tonight. The arrogant pretty boys are Queensland, who have clearly superior players, yet whinge and exploit loopholes like only the privileged can. NSW are the basket cases, with a team full of drunks, ex-jailbirds, thugs, head cases, and players hopelessly out of form. And the player in the best form of his career, Tigers skipper Robbie Farah, is unwanted and unloved by his own fans. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-sports-movies-have-taught-us-anything-nsw-will-win/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-sports-movies-have-taught-us-anything-nsw-will-win/#item8574 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/disco-the-music-that-stubbornly-refuses-to-die/ Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/disco-the-music-that-stubbornly-refuses-to-die/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/disco-the-music-that-stubbornly-refuses-to-die/#item8548 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-youre-a-fan-you-should-stick-behind-your-man/ Wally de Backer, better known as Gotye, is a legend. Not just because lately he has stoically endured a significant increase in strangers hideously mispronouncing his stage name as Goatee-yeah, Gotya and Goiter (it’s gore-ti-yeah), but because he’s a consistently creative artist who has made an art out of producing his own style of his music. After owning the Australian charts late last year with Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye’s hit whooshed to the top of the US Billboard charts this week, not long after it was performed on Glee. As one Twitterer put it, how often is a song at the top of the US charts recorded in someone’s home studio? penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-youre-a-fan-you-should-stick-behind-your-man/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-youre-a-fan-you-should-stick-behind-your-man/#item8283 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Satisfying-my-hunger-for-an-ass-kicking-female-role-model/ With a blockbuster film adapted from a popular book series, hot young cast and devoted fans, the dystopian epic that is The Hunger Games was always going to be compared to that other huge franchise, Twilight. The books might sell the same theme: Teens vs the world. But they’re different where it counts. After having to swallow Twilight’s mellow and passive lead heroine Bella, her Hunger Games counterpart Katniss comes as a breath of fresh ass-kicking air. Finally, there’s a popular teen heroine who can kick butt without a dude by her side. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Satisfying-my-hunger-for-an-ass-kicking-female-role-model/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Satisfying-my-hunger-for-an-ass-kicking-female-role-model/#item8099 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-internet-just-doesnt-get-any-sweater-than-this/ Here at The Punch, we pride ourselves on our original content. OK, so the prose in our stories might not be Shakespearean, but at least you won’t find us aggregating other people’s stuff and sneakily passing it off as our own. Except for today. Aggregation is what good websites do when they become lazy, and what lazy websites do all the time. But we can’t resist. We have found the world’s best website and we need to share it with somebody. You’ll break out into a sweat. In fact, you’ll break out into a sweater when you see… The absolutely amazing thecosbysweaterproject.com !!!!!!!!! penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Behind the picture http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-internet-just-doesnt-get-any-sweater-than-this/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-internet-just-doesnt-get-any-sweater-than-this/#item8013 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-to-be-the-perfect-game-show-host-in-16-easy-steps/ So you want a career like the legendary Ian Turpie, who died on the weekend. And you’re thinking, how hard can this thing be? You put on your Karandonis shoes, your fat tie, your suit so shiny it negates the need for studio lighting, and bingo! You’re ready to come on down. Not so quick. This is tough work. To make it in the cut throat world of game show hosting, you’ll face some real heat. More heat than those namby-pamby miners up in the Pilbara. OK, so admittedly, most of that heat will come from tanning salon lamps, but all the same, this gig is harder than it looks. Here’s what you’ll need… penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-to-be-the-perfect-game-show-host-in-16-easy-steps/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-to-be-the-perfect-game-show-host-in-16-easy-steps/#item7986 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Slaves-to-the-dumbocracy-and-getting-dumber/ A quarter of a century ago, American academic Neil Postman released a book called Amusing Ourselves to Death, which argued that television was dumbing down society in dangerous ways. Decades before Kevin Rudd used his folksy appearances on Sunrise as a launching pad to the prime ministership, Postman was warning that in a culture based on visual images, a politician’s policies were becoming far less important than whether they came across well on TV. Two books released in recent months suggest that Postman’s direst predictions may have come to pass. The first is Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World by American lawyer and television commentator Lisa Bloom. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Slaves-to-the-dumbocracy-and-getting-dumber/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Slaves-to-the-dumbocracy-and-getting-dumber/#item6040 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/junior-masterchef-child-abuse-or-character-building/ With the MasterChef juggernaut about to serve up its latest side dish in the form of Junior MasterChef, the kitchen timer is already trilling with the first claim of exploitation of its young contestants. Last night the nation’s most lucrative TV brand shortened the apron strings and lowered the bench heights as a bunch of eight to 12-year-olds battled it out to become the most precocious kid …. oops, I mean, the most talented tween chef in Australia. But not everyone is happy about combining kids with reality TV and it’s not because they’ll be staying up past their bedtimes. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/junior-masterchef-child-abuse-or-character-building/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/junior-masterchef-child-abuse-or-character-building/#item4016 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/triumph-of-the-geek-in-an-assault-on-the-frontal-lobe/ If the nastiness of this election is getting you down, perhaps it’s time to take a break. If you want to forget that Mark Latham even exists, it’s probably time to open your brain to the full-frontal lobe sensory assault that is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It’s hyperreality stretched to the limit, an ADHD teen-nerd rom-com packed with Atari-style graphics, manga and anime. And you’ll either love it or want to chew your own eyes out. The plot, adapted from a comic book series, is ludicrous: Scott Pilgrim – played by quintessential geek Michael Cera – meets the girl of his dreams, but in order to date her, he must first defeat her seven evil exes in battles that make The Matrix look like Raging Bull. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/triumph-of-the-geek-in-an-assault-on-the-frontal-lobe/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/triumph-of-the-geek-in-an-assault-on-the-frontal-lobe/#item3803 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lohan-stitched-up-by-patriarchal-virgin-worship/ Am I the only one a little queasy over the underlying public gloat at the jailing of master criminal Lindsay Lohan? There it is, just beneath the surface – unspoken and insidious. It’s the patriarchal desire to see a wanton woman tamed. Disagree? Replay the Lohan case with buttoned-down Katie Holmes in the dock and picture the reaction. See what I mean? But a boozing bisexual rootrat with a spoiled tabloid reputation and cash in the bank must be brought to heel. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lohan-stitched-up-by-patriarchal-virgin-worship/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lohan-stitched-up-by-patriarchal-virgin-worship/#item3606 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has died at 62 after a long battle with cancer. There will be some funky beats at the pearly gates today. The Gibb brothers who co-founded the band (Maurice, Barry and Robin) sold more than 200 million records over four decades. The disco genre was dominated by the music of African-Americans. It’s incredible that a bunch of boys who lived in Brisbane (ex- of Manchester, UK) could make such a lasting impression on that scene. Indeed, they pretty much owned it. Whether you consider yourself a Bee Gees fan or not, your love for them probably runs deeper than you think. Here are three examples of songs they wrote for others: Diana Ross’s “Chain Reaction”“, Dionne Warwick’s “Heartbreaker” and (Punch editor Tory Maguire’s personal fave) Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton’s “Islands in the Stream”.