What the internet taught us this week… #2
Arshad Khan serving hot tea. (Image: Javiera Ali’s Instagram account)
Because they have the internet on computers now, we’re able to learn new things. Here’s what the internet taught us this week…
Politics →
#1: It doesn’t matter that Arshad Khan is doing his best to earn a living, the important thing is that he is beautiful, right? While most focused on the chai wala‘s gaze, this picture tells a thousand words, beginning with sexism, racism, and class division.
Nice to know you don’t discriminate when it comes to objectification, internet. But, as Khan put it, ‘You can’t do anything when you are poor.’
Read: The full story here.
#2: The third and final U.S. presidential debates happened⎯appropriately⎯in Sin City! We didn’t get another Ken Bone, but we got name calling, arguments, and a headache. Here is what Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s respective arguments boiled down to:
Read: About it here.
#3: Not everyone was happy with Wonder Woman’s appointment as an Honourary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls. Dozens of United Nations staffers literally turned their back to the commemoration of Wonder Woman’s title, held at the Economic and Social Council chamber, in protest.
Read: The full story here.
William Shakespeare was the most prominent author on the list. (Image: http://www.biography.com)
Art →
#4: 125 famous American and British authors (because who else matters, yeah?) have compiled a list of their favourite books. Unsurprisingly, British bard William Shakespeare was the most featured author.
The basis of W. W. Norton & Company’s The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books, the publication is a great source of discussion and debate. How many of the texts are relevant today? How many are still widely read? Is what hasn’t been selected more important than what has?
We love a good literature debate!
Read: About it here. Buy: The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books here.
#5: Think that Shakespeare wrote all of his work? Think again! New proof came to light this week that Christopher Marlowe co-wrote three of the Bard’s plays. Something for literary nerds and conspiracy theorists to meditate on!
Read: The full story here.
#6: Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye are two of the most exciting spoken word poets on the scene. They are not only amazing at what they do, but their poetry makes the medium both accessible and appealing to those who would not have otherwise thought of experiencing this form of storytelling!
No further explanation required⎯just watch them here, performing ‘When Love Arrives’ at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre:
Follow: Sarah Kay on Twitter and Phil Kaye on Twitter.
(Image: Victoria University)
#7: Speaking of all things art, Offset creative arts journal launched its sixteenth edition, showcasing emerging talent from Melbourne’s west and beyond. FRED the ALIEN made our return to the journal with UNI-Bums: Killing Time as part of the publication’s multimedia component and our resident poet, Wayne Stellini, also has three pieces featured.
Watch: ‘UNI-Bums: Killing Time’ here. Read: ‘Silhouette Demons of Mine’ here. Read: ‘All This Time’ here. Read: ‘My Father Told Me’ here. Buy: Offset Sixteen here (inquiries). (These links may be valid until 1 October 2017.)
Television →
#8: Chuckie Finster is scared of the man on the oatmeal box!
Watch: Rugrats, Season 3 on Stan.
#9: The seventh season premiere of The Walking Dead has left some fans walking away from the series due to the episode’s excessive violent content. We won’t go into any more detail⎯this is a spoiler-free zone.
(Image: AMC Studios / Circle of Confusion / Skybound Entertainment / Valhalla Entertainment / Idiot Box Productions)
Read: The full story here (article contains plot and story spoilers). Watch: The Walking Dead on Foxtel.
For the latest in pop culture news and views, be listening to Friday Nights @ FRED’s every Friday evening. In the meantime, have your binge on SoundCloud and remember to rate and review us on iTunes. 👽
FN@F Question of the Week: Pick Your Planeteers!
Image: DIC Entertainment / Hanna-Barbera
By your powers combined, who would you pick as the Planeteers?
Kendall, Michael, and Phillip are back this week with an all-new Friday Nights @ FRED’s podcast! They’ll be wrapping up the best nerdy news from the last seven days and delving into this week’s Popcorn Culture question.
Join the conversation and tell us what your preference is:
With talk of a live action adaptation of the classic ’90s animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, who would you cast as the Planeteers?
No whitewashing, folks. Let’s keep the ethnicities and nationalities of the actors true to their respective characters!
Let the team know your thoughts and reasons by commenting below using #askFRED.
Images: DIC Entertainment / Hanna-Barbera
In the meantime, have your Friday Nights @ FRED’s binge on SoundCloud and remember to rate and review us on iTunes. 👽
What the internet taught us this week… #1
Why look for information when the internet can tell us what’s important? Whether we’re Facebooking, streaming, or telling Google that we feel lucky, here’s what the internet taught we this week…
Politics →
Ken Bone asked a question and became an immediate internet sensation… before suffering an immediate fall from online grace. (Image: Getty / Tasos Katopodis)
#1: The third and final U.S. Presidential Debate is on today at 12pm (AEDT)! I’m excited for the promised spectacle, especially if the previous one is anything to go by. The second debate gave us:
- KEN BONE!
- Donald Trump’s non-stop sniffing.
- Hillary Clinton repeatedly plugging her website.
- Donald Trump reminding Bill Clinton of his past.
- Hillary Clinton being shadowed by Donald Trump.
- Donald Trump promising to put Hillary Clinton in gaol if elected.
- The audience ignoring the mediators throughout the whole debate.
Is there a drinking game based on the debate no one’s telling us about?
Watch: The third U.S. Presidential Debate live on ABC News 24 today at 12pm (AEDT).
#2: Michael Moore made a secret Donald Trump movie called TrumpLand! But it’s not about Donald Trump… it’s about Trump supporters.
Follow: Michael Moore on Twitter… or follow Donald Trump on Twitter, if you dare!
Television →
Bart and Homer Down Under. What could possibly go wrong? (Image: Gracie Films / 20th Television / Fox)
#3: Matt Groening was ‘appalled and embarrassed’ by the depiction of Australia in The Simpsons. The Season 6, Episode 16 caper received a mixed response in Australia upon its initial screening on Network Ten in 1995, but is now considered a classic. Despite participating in the DVD commentary for the episode, Groening’s feelings about ‘Bart vs. Australia’ has been expressed for the first time two decades later. Surely, it was not intended to serve as a good will gesture linked to his Down Under appearance…
Read: The full story here.
#4: Chuckie Finster is scared of spandex!
Watch: Rugrats, Season 3 on Stan. (Recommended: Season 3, Episode 2: ‘Chuckie’s First Haircut’.)
#5: Daniel Davis didn’t like his iconic character’s storyline resolution on The Nanny. In Melbourne for the Australian Movie & Comic Expo, Davis revealed that the nuptials between his sharp-tongued Niles and sparring partner C.C. Babcock (Lauren Lane) was pointless. ‘C.C. and I had been so oil and water – I didn’t buy that we would end up married.’
Read: The full story here. Watch: The complete series of The Nanny on Stan.
Maggie Kirkpatrick as Joan ‘The Freak’ Ferguson in Prisoner. (Image: Grundy / Network Ten)
#6: Ian Smith, immortalised as Harold Bishop on Neighbours, used to work behind the scenes on the classic drama Prisoner as a writer, script editor, and associate producer. (He also has the recurring role of Ted Douglas.) Okay, this is well known to fans. But what perhaps isn’t known is that Smith gave the iconic Joan Ferguson (Maggie Kirkpatrick) her nickname⎯Freak.
Smith revealed this on All Star Family Feud: Wentworth vs. Prisoner among a number of other insights into his lengthy career.
Watch: All Star Family Feud: Wentworth vs. Prisoner on TenPlay. (This video expires in November 2016.)
Movies →
Gary Dubin on the set of Jaws 2 (1978). (Image: Lori Dubin)
#7: Actor Gary Dubin died of bone cancer, aged 57. Best known for roles in his youth, Dubin played a boy whose plush toy (concealing smuggled jewels) is snatched from him by Jill St. John at a carnival in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (1971). He also memorably played Eddie in Jaws 2 (1978), whose untimely demise is one of the most heartfelt moments in the film.
Read: The full story here. Watch: Jaws 2 on Netflix.
For the latest in pop culture news and views, be listening to Friday Nights @ FRED’s every Friday evening. In the meantime, have your binge on SoundCloud and remember to rate and review us on iTunes. 👽
FRED Shop: 20% Off EVERYTHING One-Day Sale!
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Offer valid until Monday, 17 October 2016, 11.59pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time) and cannot be used with other offers unless otherwise specified. Prices are in Australian currency. All products are advertised in good faith and are managed outside of FRED the ALIEN Productions. Please take a moment to read the returns policy and address all enquires to redbubble.com/contact. Have an idea for a design that you would love to see on some merchandise? Let us know at FREDtheALIEN.productions@gmail.com and our team will see what we can do. 👽
FN@F Nerdy News Update: The Simpsons Hits 600 Episodes!
Image: Gracie Films / 20th Television / Fox
The Simpsons will broadcast their six hundredth episode in the United States tonight.
Fox released a promotional clip centred on the upcoming U.S. Presidential elections. Among fellow Springfield citizens, Homer discusses the pros and cons of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump with another voter, only to discover that he’s been talking to a controversial world leader in disguise.
Watch it here:
The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening for The Tracey Ullman Show, beginning its association with the programme on 19 April 1987. After three seasons of shorts, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time series, debuting on 17 December 1989. The series quickly became a phenomenon.
Currently in its twenty-eighth season, The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated programme, and is also the longest-running American scripted prime time television series. The Simpsons Movie (2007) grossed over half a billion dollars at the box office and Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” (2012) was nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Academy Award.
The Simpsons airs on ELEVEN in Australia. Have your Friday Nights @ FRED’s binge on SoundCloud and remember to rate and review us on iTunes. 👽
FRED Shop: The Writer set!
Here it is, FRED fans! We have an incredible offer for those of you who loved FRED the ALIEN’s stage production of The Writer.
Take advantage of this ONE DAY OFFER from the FRED the ALIEN Online Store!
Score yourself the perfect combination for creatives on the go! For only $64.02, you get a tote bag (33cm x 33cm), a spiral notebook (ruled or graph), and a dishwasher safe travel mug (443ml / 15oz) with FREE DELIVERY INCLUDED!
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Offer valid until Thursday, 13 October 2016, 11.59pm (AEDT) and cannot be used with other offers unless otherwise specified. All pricing is in Australian currency. Free delivery is available to Australian residents selecting standard shipping. All products are advertised in good faith and are managed outside of FRED the ALIEN Productions. Please take a moment to read the returns policy and address all enquires to redbubble.com/contact. Have an idea for a design that you would love to see on some merchandise? Let us know at FREDtheALIEN.productions@gmail.com and our team will see what we can do. 👽
FN@F Question of the Week: Utopia or Dystopia?
Pick your future: Would you rather live in Kara Zor-El’s Argo City or Katniss Everdeen’s District 12?
Michael and Phillip are back this week with an all-new Friday Nights @ FRED’s podcast! They’ll be wrapping up the best nerdy news from the last seven days and delving into this week’s Popcorn Culture question.
Join the conversation and tell us what your preference is:
If you had a choice, would you rather live in an utopian or dystopian future? Do you prefer watching of reading one or the other? Which is the extreme of your choice?
Let Michael and Phillip know your thoughts and reasons by commenting below using #askFRED.
In the meantime, have your Friday Nights @ FRED’s binge on SoundCloud and remember to rate and review us on iTunes. 👽
FRED Tribute: Ross Higgins (1930-2016)
Ross Higgins (1930-2016). Image: News Limited.
FRED the ALIEN Productions pays tributes to Australian comedian Ross Higgins who died on Friday at the age of 86.
Higgins was the voice behind Australia’s longest running advertising mascot, Mortein’s Louie the Fly, who has been going ‘straight from garbage bin to you’ since 1957.
The comedian will best be remembered for portraying Ted Bullpitt. The suburban sexist bigot first appeared on the sketch comedy series The Naked Vicar Show (1977-78) and ultimately received his own sitcom, Kingswood Country (1980-84). Bullpitt’s responses to Australia’s growing multicultural melting pot society was the source of much of the show’s humour.
‘I love the business. I’ve enjoyed it all enormously.’
From pesky Louie the Fly to ‘grumblebum’ Ted Bullpitt, Higgins was behind two of the most iconic figures on Australian television. Images: Mortein and Seven Network.
In a 2008 interview, Higgins discussed Kingswood Country‘s infamous brand of comedy, saying, ‘A few times I had [to say] things that I worried about because they got a little bit close to the mark but we got around it.’
Reflecting on his extensive career, which encompassed radio, theatre, and music as well as television, Higgins said, ‘There’s a lot of luck attached to everything. I guess you’ve got to have some talent too, to back it up, but really there’s a lot of luck attached to being in the right place at the right time.’
For Higgins, the entertainment industry is where he belonged. ‘I’ve enjoyed it all enormously.’
Watch FRED the ALIEN’s tribute here:
Ross Higgins was interviewed in 2008 by news.com.au. Seasons of Kingswood Country and selected episodes of Bullpitt! are available on DVD.
FRED Shop: Monday Madness Savings!
Complete your FRED the ALIEN mug collection with these exclusive designs!
Hey there, FRED fans⎯here’s a Monday Madness offer just for you! Save 20% off store-wide from FRED the ALIEN merchandise! That’s 20% off ALL clothing, decor, tech accessories, and stationary! Time to recover from the weekend and get down to FRED’s online store!
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Today only: Save 20% off tees, framed prints, cushions, notebooks, mugs, bags, and more!
Offer valid until Monday, 10 October 2016, 11.59pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time) and cannot be used with other offers unless otherwise specified. All products are advertised in good faith and are managed outside of FRED the ALIEN Productions. Please take a moment to read the returns policy and address all enquires to redbubble.com/contact. Have an idea for a design that you would love to see on some merchandise? Let us know at FREDtheALIEN.productions@gmail.com and our team will see what we can do. 👽
FN@F Nerdy News Update: The Warriors Remake
1979’s cult classic The Warriors is set for a remake. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Captain America: Civil War (2016) directors Joe and Anthony Russo are currently working with Paramount Television and American subscription video on demand service Hulu to re-imagine a new series, modernising Walter Hill’s masterpiece. Frank Baldwin is expected to pen the television adaptation.
Based on Sol Yurick‘s 1965 novel, itself inspired by Xenophon’s Anabasis, The Warriors is the quintessential chase movie. The film’s anti-heroes, identified by their brown leather waistcoats, find themselves on the run from New York’s many gangs after being accused of murdering a rival leader (Roger Hill).
Despite initially receiving negative reviews and its theatrical run being threatened by incidents of violence linked to the film’s release, The Warriors performed strongly at the domestic box office. It proved popular among its young audience, and its themes of rebellion, class, and gender, have ensured its contemporary relevance and place in pop culture.
The Warriors has already been adapted into video games and a comic book series. The original theatrical version is available on DVD. An ‘Ultimate Director’s Cut’, featuring a remixed soundtrack, additional footage, and a comic book-style sequences between scenes, is available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Have your Friday Nights @ FRED’s binge on SoundCloud and remember to rate and review us on iTunes. 👽
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