Blog of Note: Awful Plastic Surgery

http://www.awfulplasticsurgery.com
-- the good, bad, and ugly of celebrity plastic surgery

Doesn't Joan Rivers look awful? Her eyes look dead in her face. It mentions on the site that when she talks, only her mouth moves, that's how much surgery has taken place. I saw her on a talk show once, and she looked so strange I couldn't tell exactly why, and that is what it was -- it was like she was wearing a mask. When people smile and laugh, you see laugh lines and wrinkles around the eyes, but with Joan Rivers, there's hardly a change in expression!

This site says: "Sarah Jessica Parker, like Sophia Loren, is the queen of good plastic surgery." Checking out the side-by-side photos, I would have to agree: Sarah Jessica Parker. She's definitely had work done on her teeth, too.

And I totally agree with this site on Victoria Beckham's canteloupes, except Tori Spelling looks worse. When I first saw hers (she did a TV special here years ago), they looked like cannonballs. Here's a funny little animated cartoon called "The Mystery of Britney Spears' Breasts" that shows how much they've changed over time (up and down!).

Parts of this site has entertainment value, but it's more horrifying to see what people will do to themselves for textbook "beauty." Look at Jennifer Grey -- after her nose job, she doesn't even look like the same person in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" or "Dirty Dancing." If you don't look like you anymore, what's the point? This site doesn't cover all the awful plastic surgeries done -- they should mention Liz Hurley's obsession with collagen, for example (like Melanie Griffith and Kylie Minogue)-- but it does show at least that it's not just women who seek perfection under the knife. There are plenty of men who pay the cosmetic surgeon to cheat nature. They're not even cheating nature anymore, they're looking utterly inhuman (check out Bruce Jenner and Burt Reynolds). Let's not forget the King of Plastic Surgery: Michael Jackson.

Late Nite TV

I figure since I'm sick, I might as well engage in something that taxes the brain the least, like watching television. Don't get me wrong -- I'm interested in pop culture. And I know that not watching TV on a fairly regular basis means I am not up-to-speed. So now and again it's worthwhile to tune in. When you're sick TV is like a mental holiday. Except in this case... because I see a piece of a show with a lead character who I spot is hiding an Aussie accent with an American one. 13 months in Australia gave me a bit of an ear for it -- but hey, even Nicole Kidman's let a vowel slide now and again. I'm sure I've seen this guy in another show, probably in Australia. Since I only saw the end of the show -- about a lawyer in the U.S. somewhere -- I don't have a title, or even his character's last name, all I know is his character's first name, Nicholas.

So I go to IMDB.com. What to plug in? There are hundreds of characters whose first name is Nicholas. Then I plug in "Home and Away," which was one of the big soaps in Oz (don't know if it is now) along with "Neighbours." Even Heath Ledger was in "Home and Away." I scroll through the list of actors, but nothing rings a bell. Then I plug in Australia as a country of birth. Well, as you can imagine the list is REALLY LONG. But the first name I clicked on -- Simon Baker -- it's him! I couldn't believe it! And what do you know? He was in "Home and Away" in 1994 (by that time I was watching it in Scotland), but I hadn't noticed his name the first time around because I hadn't clicked on the full list of actors, only the most recent ones. The list is extensive. I think I know him more from a short-lived Australian series called "E Street."

In Canada I don't think we're into the homegrown soaps. They just don't fly here -- if people watch soaps, they're usually American and so far-removed from everyday life we might as well be watching a Mars web cam. Australian, British, and American soaps are VERY DIFFERENT from each other. In Britain most of them are pretty gritty -- the lighting isn't always particularly flattering, and it's more fly-on-the-wall. Depends on the soaps, but the longer-running ones like Coronation Street and Eastenders (which I used to watch quite religiously) had plots with dialogue that the average person could relate to, with people in average jobs, like cafeteria workers or street vendors. Most of the people are fairly ordinary-looking and not glamourized for the camera. I believe the longevity of the British soaps depend on how closely the audience, who are regionally very distinct, can connect with the characters on a localized level. In American soaps it is the exact opposite -- everyone is a glamorous high-flyer who emerges from a full night's sleep wearing makeup with every hair in place. The more outrageous the plotline, the better. Australian soaps, on the other hand, are a hybrid of the American and British soaps, with elements of the everyday workaday life but with characters who are conventionally attractive. For example, I don't associate Natalie Imbruglia with pop songs -- I remember her as "Beth" on the Aussie soap "Neighbours." I even remember her hair, dress sense, and her squeaky-clean character. (IMO, Natalie is an beautiful creature, but her main facial features -- her eyes and lips -- seem so exaggerated she's like a caricature. I didn't get this impression when she was "Beth," but the magazines featuring her as a pop star really overdo it.)

I think in Canada we're more into our homegrown political satire, like "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" or "Airfarce." If there's a government to skewer, whether it's municipal, provincial, or federal, we'll make it into a TV show. And if we ever run out of Canadian material, we barely need to cross the border for more. I used to listen to Airfarce on the radio with my brothers on CBC every Sunday; even now that there's a TV show, I am still reminded of the radioshow.

Medicated... At Last

I managed to drag myself to the clinic today to get antibiotics. I must've looked like a sad, sorry case, because the doc gave me antibiotics for free! He also wrote me a note for SFU because I have a Psychology paper due yesterday that I haven't been able to finish because my brain has been like pea soup. I don't know if the tutor marker will accept the doctor's note as I didn't notify them before the paper was due, but I'm just going to have to see what happens.

Christa finally left today to go to Whistler, and she cleared out her stuff just like I'd asked. What a relief. I didn't realize how tense I've felt with her around. It's like a whole new freedom. I don't have to listen to any more whining, nagging, or snarky remarks. No more interruptions while I'm working, I can study at my own table, and I can come home at night without tripping over Christa's stuff.

My Bout With the Flu & a Spoiled Flatmate

The flu is still waging battle with my immune system. Yesterday it nearly incapacitated me. Drove all the way to the office and was so ill I returned home halfway through the day. Took aspirin for the first time in memory, although my mother might've have dispensed it to me as a kid after disguising it in soup. Drove my first CAN (Co-operative Auto Network) car yesterday, and after eating my first meal in 24 hours while waiting for the ferry home, I threw it back up on myself and a bit on the car while on the ferry. I'm sure that was more information than you'd ever wished to read in a blog, but vomiting is extremely rare for me, so I thought I'd share that with you. Let this be a cautionary tale: stay healthy and keep away from flu-ridden, virus-carrying people such as the likes of me!

To make things even more ugly, I told Christa this morning that she should move her stuff out of my line of sight and that includes December when she gets back from a month in Mexico. She finished her English program on Friday, so it's time to go. She's been getting on my nerves and I've had enough. Enough! She said I should've told her things as they happened, but I have -- she hasn't been listening. I also think there are such things as common courtesies, like common sense, that I shouldn't have to explain. For example, leave everything as you found it. How hard is that?


I've taken out the rest of the post... but I'm still angry. Don't piss off a person with the flu!

Could This Be Flu Season?

I feel, in a word, rotten. I've been downing the fluids and trying to keep at bay what I think is a flu... perfect. I have a paper due on Thursday, and I read over the material last night, but can I analyze it? My brain is so fuzzy at the moment. Plus, I have to go to the office tomorrow. That means waking up before 6am, because I have to go pick up my first CAN (Cooperative Auto Network) car over at Harwood and Jervis. It will only take me a few minutes to walk over there, but I have to make sure I can find the car no problem! I think it's a 2000 Mazda 626 LX.

American Poll on Bush's Iraq Policy

U.S.: New Poll Indicates Majority Of Americans Disapprove Of Bush's Iraq Policy

According to this article, the poll was conducted by "The Washington Post" and ABC.

Network Pulling Reagan Movie

Hmmm.... Babs had nothing to do with this movie?? My, does James Brolin ever look like Reagan in this pic...

wnbc.com - Entertainment - Network Pulling Reagan Movie

Fetch Halloween 2003

Too funny! But I don't know whether to laugh or cringe: Fetch Halloween 2003

I especially like Roscoe as Harry Potter...

Thanks to lesterblog, to whom I owe this link...

David versus Goliath

This summer I took an American History course, and my professor wore a HaidaBucks t-shirt one day. As a Canadian (with a dual citizenship) who mainly teaches History at Washington State University in Pullman, I'm sure this drew some attention down in WA, since Starbucks is based in Seattle.

The short version of the story is that corporate giant Starbucks, with billions of dollars in revenue, sued tiny HaidaBucks Cafe in a village (pop. 700) in the Queen Charlotte Islands on the northern coast of B.C. for copyright infringement.

Read more about the story at the HaidaBucks Cafe website.

Unlike many cases of this nature, the legal battle was won by the little guy, as Starbucks dropped the lawsuit.

Sweet November

Here I am, making a reference to a film I never saw (beautiful people/vacuous script is my impression). There's not a cloud in the sky today, so I can say that November is sweet for today, at least. It's the second day into November and 2003 is almost over! Wacky!

I realize I've gone a bit AWOL the past week from the blog, in my bid to reclaim my lost social life -- temporarily replaced while I work on my degree. I've been out every night for a week doing lots of catch-up with friends, lots of eating, moderate amounts of drinking, and generally regaining the equilibrium of my previous life. I've got two more papers left over the next five weeks before final exams, and the halfway point will officially be reached!

photo credit: Ocean Rose B&B

Took the kids yesterday to White Rock with Cheryl, but Michael was getting over a cold, and he was CRANKY. Maddy was running around like a blue-assed fly (is that how the saying goes?), and Melissa was pretty co-operative. I tried to get them to go down the boardwalk and along the pier, but Michael freaked himself out by staring down through the spaces between the wooden boards at the ocean and suddenly decided he was too scared to go any further. Then Melissa decided she was scared, too, so we only got about halfway down the pier. I put Maddy on my shoulders so Michael could ride in the stroller and we headed back via the sidewalk. With the time change the sun is setting much earlier, so we can't go out for as long, and it's getting pretty chilly...