http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/weddings/ 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 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +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/michael-clarke-4.0.-the-transformation-is-complete/ You’ve got to hand it to Michael Clarke. His reinvention is complete. He is now Michael Clarke 4.0. He wins, the haters lose. Let’s go back to 2004. The first version of Michael Clarke is the young, likeable kid with blond tips and ugly reflective sunnies who makes a Test century for Australia on debut in India, then later snares 6-9 in the same series. Six for Nine! Not even Warney ever boasted figures like that. And if you think the young Pup can do mean things with a cricket ball, you should see him bowl the ladies over. They love him! Australia loves him! Everybody loves him! And then they hate him. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/michael-clarke-4.0.-the-transformation-is-complete/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/michael-clarke-4.0.-the-transformation-is-complete/#item8531 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/friday-dilemma-do-brides-get-to-be-dictators/ Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/friday-dilemma-do-brides-get-to-be-dictators/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/friday-dilemma-do-brides-get-to-be-dictators/#item7486 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tis-the-season-of-useless-bloody-gifts/ Around this time last year my soon-to-be wife and I were finalising the preparations for our wedding. There are many questions that will be endlessly asked of newly-wed (or soon-to-be-wed) couples: How did you meet? How long have you known each other? Do the parents approve? But for me the worst question was “What do you want as a wedding present?” - and for two reasons. Firstly, my wife and I had managed to inherit or buy most of the crockery, cutlery, cookware and linen that we needed to run our house in the early days of living together and by the time our wedding was drawing close we couldn’t think of anything else that we really needed. The only suggestion I could make was for a new can-opener (ours had broken a few days after the wedding invites had gone out) and it was quite a challenge to convince people I was being serious. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tis-the-season-of-useless-bloody-gifts/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/tis-the-season-of-useless-bloody-gifts/#item7433 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Once-upon-a-time-being-a-princess-didnt-suck-so-much/ Who in their right mind would want to be a Princess? In the last week, the royal bride lark has well and truly lost its fairytale sparkle. Charlene Wittstock’s real-life Princess story came close to coming off the rails when, in the days leading up to her and Prince Albert of Monaco’s $75 million three-day wedding, she reportedly tried to do a runner. At the eleventh hour, the bride was caught at the airport in Nice, trying to flee to her native South Africa, on a one-way ticket in order to escape her royal fate. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Once-upon-a-time-being-a-princess-didnt-suck-so-much/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Once-upon-a-time-being-a-princess-didnt-suck-so-much/#item6207 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Those-big-fat-gay-weddings-will-be-well-worth-crashing/ There are some very odd bedfellows in the anti-gay-marriage camp. Like, for example, conservative Christians and gay libertarians. The former think that gays will wreck marriage, the latter that marriage will wreck gays. The first argument goes like this: marriage was made by God to unite men and women. Gay marriage will debase that institution, stripping it of its sacred meaning. The same argument, couched in more secular terms, is offered just as often by people who say they are against discrimination, except when it comes to marriage because… and then insert whatever spurious, depressingly legalistic, horribly thin argument you choose… penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Those-big-fat-gay-weddings-will-be-well-worth-crashing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Those-big-fat-gay-weddings-will-be-well-worth-crashing/#item6195 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-considered-retort-to-the-mother-in-law-from-hell/ Yesterday, a private email from British woman Carolyn Bourne to her prospective daughter-in-law went viral. The father of the bride-to-be has since replied, mouthing off big time at Carolyn Bourne. The aggrieved bride-to-be has not yet made a statement or sent a reply email. But if she did, we imagine it might go a little like this… My Dear Lady Snootybuttocks III. Oh wait, you’re actually a commoner like me, innit ya stuck up bitch? Let me start again. “Dear Carolyn”. Actually, “Dear Mum” Yes, that will do nicely. Because make no mistake, I am marrying that hot stepson of yours. Here’s the thing, Mum. You think I’m trashy, like one of those “brash” celebrities whose lives you breathlessly consume through all those trashy mags in the conservatory. That’s right, I’ve seen the pile of OK magazines hidden underneath the Horse & Hounds. So perhaps you’d be good enough to tell me why celebrities, whose lives are full of glitz and glamour, can get married in castles, but the rest of us can’t dare to dream? It wouldn’t be because you dreamed and failed, would it? Or is it simply because your knickers are tighter than a Scotsman’s fist? penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-considered-retort-to-the-mother-in-law-from-hell/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-considered-retort-to-the-mother-in-law-from-hell/#item6186 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bridesmaids-the-funniest-mixed-race-buddy-film-ever/ Labels are the problem. Male or female, black or white, comedy or drama, PG-13 or R? In which section of the DVD store will this film end up? How do we market it? To whom should the product placement and the trailers before the film be skewed? It is for these reasons that a gem like Bridesmaids receives qualified approval like “the funniest R-rated female driven comedy of all time”. There’s a glaring missed opportunity, given the ethnicity of one of the film’s leads – surely an enterprising reviewer will dub it “the funniest mixed-race buddy film R-rated female-driven romantic comedy of all time”. Perhaps with an exclamation mark or two for good measure. Bridesmaids stars Kristen Wiig, who co-wrote the film with Annie Mumolo, and a host of other Saturday Night Live alumni. At the time of writing, it has made almost US$125 million in the US alone and is one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bridesmaids-the-funniest-mixed-race-buddy-film-ever/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/bridesmaids-the-funniest-mixed-race-buddy-film-ever/#item6096 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-27-05-2011/ Some of you have wondered where Lucy is, and why we’re doing the open thread as a team this week. Does the image below give you any hints? That’s right. Lucy gets married this weekend. She was away this week and will be away for two weeks more, on her honeymoon in a top secret location. So feel free to use today’s open thread to share all your best wishes for Luce. She’d hate that we’re doing this by the way, but we can’t resist! penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-27-05-2011/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/punch-on-open-thread-27-05-2011/#item5936 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/could-a-wedding-save-the-pm/ Well may we say a wedding saved the monarchy, but would another one save the Prime Minister? The recent post-Budget polls are dismal. A weekend Newspoll found Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s standing is worse than Kevin Rudd’s was before he got axed, and a Galaxy Poll suggests that it doesn’t matter what Labor does, people still hate them. So is there anything that could turn this inexorable tide around? Australians have shown they have a soft and gooey spot for a ‘fairytale’ wedding, turning off a republic and back on to the monarchy with the marriage of Wills and Kate. And then First Bloke Tim Mathieson has hinted that he’d quite like to pop the question. What do you think? Could a garter belt be a lifesaver for Ms Gillard? penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/could-a-wedding-save-the-pm/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/could-a-wedding-save-the-pm/#item5850 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/even-the-windsors-recognise-same-sex-marriage/ Love makes a marriage, even a Royal one. This is the simple and powerful message of the upcoming wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, one that’s relevant to Australia’s same-sex marriage debate. Once royal weddings were about dynastic alliances. That began to change in the twentieth century, but still there were limits on who a royal married, famously illustrated by the abdication of Edward VIII to marry a divorcee. As recently as the marriage of William’s father, Charles, to Lady Di, it was inconceivable that an heir to the throne would marry outside the aristocracy or have a relationship with his fiancé prior to the wedding. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/even-the-windsors-recognise-same-sex-marriage/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/even-the-windsors-recognise-same-sex-marriage/#item5711 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo? We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives. Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen.