Why Melbourne is the best place to live in Australia

• The maritime climate means four definite seasons. My favourite season in Melbourne is Autumn, though.
• we dress better (not necessarily me), the cooler weather means, cooler clothes
• CBD streetscape - architecture, arcades, laneways, public spaces like Federation Square, wide streets, easy grid pattern to find your way around
• sense of humour (Melbourne is the home of Barry Humphries), Melbourne Comedy Festival
• live music scene
• trams 
• sporting venues and events - AFL Grand Final, Australian Open, The Melbourne Cup
• best theatre venues - grand old theatres have been restored, not demolished
• restaurants - multicultural mix
• Southbank Arts precinct
• parks and gardens
• fabulous post-Gold Rush Victorian architecture - Treasury Buidling, Parliament House, State Library, Exhibition Buildings
• edgy shopping precincts in inner suburbs - Fitzroy, South Yarra, Richmond, South Melbourne
• Melbourne International Airport (Tullamarine) is the best in the country. Domestic and international terminals are combined. Compare the chaos of connecting from international to domestic terminals in Sydney.
• Melbourne (like Brisbane) is a city where freeways actually go somewhere, not terminate in suburbia like Sydney's M2.

"The Revolution Will Be Televised" vs "The Chaser"

I was watching the TV BAFTA's last week and saw an award given to "The Revolution Will Be Televised". I then caught up with the show (Episode 1 of 6). This is prankster TV par excellence. In a word, smart TV.
Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein are the daredevils with microphones but with rapier sharp political and social commentary. This is hilarious stuff as well as having a powerful message.
My wife and I looked at each other and said, "The Chaser" (the Australian satire equivalent). Also a bit of the ambush style of Norman Gunston (Garry MacDonald) from the mid 1970's. Never could get into Ali G and Sacha Baron Cohen's antics.
The set up outside MI 6 was priceless. As was the Saint Tony Blair try on, the London Olympics tee-shirts and the clamping of embassy cars. There was not a flat spot in the first episode - everything worked - unlike some of The Chaser's material.
Prowse and Rubinstein are terrific, hope they have a big future.

"Vicious" ITV TV series Episode 1 review

What a waste of talent! Three of the greatest actors of the British stage - Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Derek Jacobi, Frances de la Tour, the creator of "Will & Grace" - it seemed like a winner. The script was juvenile. And the worst sin ....dull.
Only one mildly funny bit when the two old queens reared back like Dracula when the curtains were opened. That was it.  I've laughed more in old episodes of the 1970's "Father, Dear Father".
I wanted to like this. Didn't these two great thespians read the script? Jacobi was so wonderful in "Last Tango in Halifax" too.

"The Mimic" TV series, Episode 1, Channel 4, review

I know this is The Brady Bunch, but I got lazy.

My wife and I watched  a sweet little comedy last night.When you aren't expecting much, television can surprise you. Blending poignancy, gentle humour and excellent voice impersonations, this show works. Terry Mynott spouts Terry Wogan, Gok Wan, Owen Wilson, Al Pacino, Allan Carr and in a delightful final scene, Sir David Attenborough.The impersonations support the storyline, rather than detract from it.

Best 'dramedy' since Coogan and Brydon's "The Trip". Looking forward to next week's episode.