Another enhancement to this site - a search function in the top right-hand corner. I've done a few tests and I think it's working.

How American do we have to be? I want to wash the car, so I looked up "car wash, Brisbane" in Google and was directed to an Australian-based directory. What greeted me there? The message: "Oops! Did you mean: automobile wash"? No, I meant car wash. I then went to another Australian directory site and, despite the fact that I typed in my Brisbane postcode, the first match it came up with was a business in Melbourne. It's a long way to drive just to get the car washed.
If it weren't for the water restrictions, I'd do it myself!

The world has lost some great entertainers in the past few days. French actor Philippe Noiret, US jazz singer Anita O'Day, Broadway producer Betty Comden and BBC radio journalist Nick Clarke have all been added to my Celebrity Deaths Archive.

The ABC may have declined to publish Jonestown, the controversial Chris Masters biography of radio star Alan Jones, but the national broadcaster is still making some money from the venture. At the time of writing, the book is featured on the front page of the ABC Shop site.

A colleague of mine pre-ordered drinks at the Lyric Theatre last night and asked the bar attendant where he might find them at interval. "Will they be outside?" he inquired, gesturing towards the balcony. "I don't know," the attendant replied, "but I'm sure you'll find them."
There must have been something in the air last night. After the show, I was scolded by a waiter for attempting to take a mineral water off his tray - as I have done on hundreds of occasions previously (although, admittedly, rarely involving mineral water). I gather he wanted me to ask for it first - which pretty much defeats the purpose of having them freely on offer.

I just had occasion to visit the QTix website, where one can purchase tickets for shows at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre and various other Brisbane venues. I was immediately reminded that the site is quite unfriendly. It features just a few shows on the front page and then invites users to search for what else is on offer. All very well if you know what you're looking for, but not very helpful if you just want to have a quick look at what's on offer. Yes, you can just search by genres, but surely a significant number of people might just want to browse the "shop window" and, as a result, could end up buying tickets for something quite different to what they were originally looking for.

I guess it's a matter of how contrived you want your "reality" TV to be. Gold Coast chess champ and Dancing with the Stars contestant Arianne Caoli is under fire because she's allegedly a well-trained dancer - even though she told host Daryl Somers that she'd never had a dance lesson. My care factor's pretty low, but people are voting on this thing and the producers owe it them to preserve some integrity in the process.

For some reason, some people have been visiting this site for information about Paul "Fatty" Vautin. I assume it's something to do with a blog item I wrote after I ran into Fatty a few months ago at a Channel 9 function for The Footy Show (NRL version). All I can tell you about Fatty is that he grew up in vaguely the same part of Brisbane I did and that he played for Wests Mitchelton rugby league club before hitting the big time as an A-grade player and now a TV personality. He seems like a reasonable kind of bloke and he still makes time to support his old juniors club, which is a good thing. This site might be helpful if you want to know more.

"A book becomes collectible when it's hard to find, and this will become very, very collectible, surely worth four figures." So says AbeBooks.com spokesman Richard Davies about the O.J.Simpson If I Did It book. The publishers have recalled it for pulping, but there's every chance that at least some copies will escape destruction. It won't be long before portions of the book and the television interview that was supposed to accompany it turn up on the internet. Then it will be up to each of us to decide whether we want to read it or not - and what the moral issues are.

It's not the anti-semitism that's worrying Israeli authorities about # Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, it's the lead character's revealing swimming costume, which has been banned from promotional material. The film will open in Israel on November 30 and audience reaction will be interesting (to say the least).
PS: The real president of Kazakhstan has laughed-off the film, saying any publicity for his country is good.

Director Robert Altman, of M*A*S*H, Nashville, A Prairie Home Companion and Nashville fame, has died at age 81, and earns an entry into the Celebrity Deaths Archive.

The headline screams: Gould, Hackett lead tributes for Thorpe and, as I write, it's still leading ABC News Online. Goodness gracious, he's only 24, he's just a sportsman (albeit a very good one) and he's not dead. Get a grip, people.

The world holds its breath. The tension is palpable. The future hangs in the balance. Is it Iraq? Is it the environment? Has Kim Beazley put his foot in his mouth again? No, it's Ian Thorpe preparing to announce whether he'll swim competitively again. If this really is the most important story in the world, or even in Australia, right now, I'll walk backwards to Bourke.

Sign outside an inner-Brisbane pub: "This hotel has a dress code at management's discretion." Translation: you won't get in if we don't like the look of you, and we'll use what you're wearing as an excuse.

The big news is that I've started another blog. Target 25 is a very personal diary on my efforts to lose weight and get fit - before it's too late. If you have an interest in this area, please come and have a look. Your comments and other interaction are welcome.

I was dining out last night and the waiter asked: "Was your food cooked correctly?" It's a subtle but clever twist on the more usual "How is your food", because it that excludes the possiblilty that I simply don't like it.

Regular visitors to this blog may notice a change in the top right-hand side menu. Through the wonders of syndication, I've incorporated links to items on the Queensland Newspaper arts and entertianment blog. If the headlines intrigue, clicking on them will take you to the full item. The "more" link will take you a list of recent entries on that blog.

I went to buy an ink cartridge for my brand-name computer printer at a well-known discount store. The price for a single black cartridge? $49.88. I could have bought a printer - complete with ink cartridges - for $59! The ink cartridges are sold in plastic containers that can only be removed at the checkout. The operator told me that was because they were among the most-stolen items (along with razors, CDs and DVDs apparently). At those prices for some plastic, simple circuitry and ink, it's no wonder.

Opposition leader Kim Beazley's gaffe in calling Rove McManus "Karl Rove" reminded me of former Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, whose clumsy way with words was legendary. When asked what he thought of (the satirical television program) The Gillies Report, Bjelke-Petersen purportedly replied "Well, it's a very long report and I haven't read all of it yet."

Not long ago, I received an email from EMI about the new satirical CD from The 12th Man, Boned, and I posted an item about it on my other blog. The email noted how well previous 12th Man albums had done and how well the company expected this one to do. Today comes news that EMI is threatening to sue the Australian sports supporters' club, the Fanatics, for changing the lyrics to some of its songs. Now I absolutley support an artist's right to protect his or her intellectual property, but I think it's funny how big corporations only have a sense of humour when there's money to be made.