I'd rather be spelunking

Pacific Magazines released yesterday its first online-only magazine, RedZero.

Not sure what to make of it. From a form perspective, it's interesting - literally a magazine, with all its page-flicking and full page ads, transposed online. And I have to give them props for trying something so experimental.

I have to wonder whether the format will work though. Do people want to flick through a virtual magazine online the same way they would a print one?

It also seems rather flimsy on the content. Very much straight fashion and entertainment without much pizazz. And with so much fashion content already available online, I wonder what would make people want to visit this website (sorry, magazine) rather than just logging onto the Vogue forum.

I saw Jadey's band Jane Vs World tonight at my old hang, Manning Bar (well, Manning Bar was never my hang, but Manning certainly was - I even spent the night there once, when I was on deadline).

They were excellent. So fun and poppy that the girls behind the bar started dancing. Even Davina liked them, and Davina doesn't like live music.

'Sydney' was so sweet it almost made me cry, and lots of the other songs made me laugh.

I bought their CD and they might just be my new favourite band, replacing Rachel Stevens as my car ride musical accompaniment (and there ain't no higher compliment than that ;) *cough* *cough*).

I'd like to review them for Vibewire, but I have a zillion and one things to do, so I wouldn't hold my breath. Plus, our music editors still haven't published the review I submitted four weeks ago (!!), which isn't exactly encouraging.

But seriously. Excellent. Five stars!

(I'm sleepy.)

Most of you will have already read this, but check out my story about Condoleezza Rice becoming US president anyway.

It's freshly edited!

Vibewire might be known for attracting self-righteous pinko pseudo-intellectuals (well, perhaps not so much on the self-righteous front - at least amongst our key volunteers, but definitely left leaning and interllektuwal, as Tash and I used to like to say), but we do attract the occasional ditz (or ditzy article).

Most of these pop up in our love and relationships section, Pucker Up, which while not quite stooping to the lows of Sam In The City, has dished out some pretty tradionalist advice, which basically assumes that everyone is desperate to be attached and that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.

(Idea: Maybe I could do a love and relationships advice column for Vibewire! Except that no one would write in, I have enough to do as it is, and my track record in relationships isn't all that good, but I am pretty good at giving honest but sensitive advice to my friends. And my advice would be much more "Vibewire" than our current relationships writers.)

Anyway, the latest ditzy article to get my goat is this one, in our fashion section, and I seem to have launched a surprising (if substanceless) debate on the issue. The issue being tanning.

Now, some folk seem to think my reaction to the article was kind of humourless, but as a pale-skinned lass, it's kind of annoying to read things like:

"Come on, let's face it – we all look better darker. Hands up anyone who'd rather have skin like Helena Bonham Carter than Jessica Alba? Or Avril Lavigne over J.Lo?"

or

"There's something really sexy about bronzed skin. And despite the cruel irony that when you hit 40 you will shrivel up like a prune after a 20-year long sun-baking habit, well, while you’re tanned, you look so damn healthy."

or

"You can go from Nicole Kidman to Halle Berry in a matter of sprays."

or even considering a solarium as a tanning option. Sure, she mentions that it can give you skin cancer, but last time I looked at Cosmo (which was last issue, actually ;)) even they were past suggesting their readers went to the solarium.

Now honestly, I wasn't offended by the article - because I don't think having pale skin is a bad thing. I don't deny the hotness of Jessica Alba, Halle Berry or my olive-skinned ex-boyfriend, but some of the most beautiful people I know are pale. Hotness has nothing to do with skin colour and while I'm not offended by the notion that tanning makes people more attractive, I am annoyed by it. And while I recognise that the writer was trying to be "funny" and "tongue in cheek", it just wasn't all that funny. It wasn't all that different to a Cosmo article. Except less PC.

Because I don't think that telling pale people that everyone looks better darker is any different to telling black people to bleach their skin (witness the mirrored horrors of Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton - one girl who looked much prettier with her naturally pale hue, in my opinion), large people that everyone looks better as a size 8/3, or girls with small breasts that everyone looks better with 32D gravity-defying breasts. It's all pretty fucked.

And while I may be immune to the lure of the tan, lots of girls aren't. Just look at Lindsay Lohan.

I rest my case. :p

"Many of us are working to shift the old paradigm that we need to sacrifice our health and families for the sake of the movement. It's a false and dangerous dichotomy. I believe these behaviours actually impede the success of our work. If we must sacrifice something, we might consider sacrificing our egoic images of ourselves as heroes, martyrs, and lone warriors. We need to work in the spirit of the famous Zen adage, "Chop wood. Carry water." Our activism (Rachel's note: journalism, work, whatever...) becomes less of a big deal. It's just what we do. Day after day... decade after decade... with a clear mind and an open heart, patient and steady in our course."
- Robert Gass

Words I am too hesitant to post in my Vibewire blog in case they get read by the wrong person and interpreted in the wrong way.

Goodness Americans can be crazy.

I asked one I'm interviewing to call me between 2pm and 4pm Los Angeles time, because this equates to between 9am and 11am Sydney time.

But no, they decide to call me at 8:30am LA time, which equates to 3:30am Sydney time.

Naturally I turned my phone off and went back to sleep. ;)

Silly Americans.

If I were rich (read: had, say $6000 in the bank), I'd jump on a plane right now and fly to freezing cold Europe to hang out and relax and sleep and read for the next month or so.

Maybe drag a few of my friends along with me for entertainment (ooo, and I think I know just who, too).

And then I'd come back home and, as I know from experience, everything wouldn't actually be okay, but I'd feel a little bit refreshed and rejuvenated and relaxed.

Or so one hopes.

But I am not rich (although am expecting some nice cheques to land in my bank account on Thursday), so instead I will wear pretty summer clothes and go dancing and to Mardi Gras and to the zoo and maybe to New Zealand and look forward to those imaginary nights where I can step away from the fluorescent lure of the computer, read and disappear for a while.

Re: this post, the correct (and obvious, in my opinion) answer was Melbourne, guys.

45 degrees is just untenable.

Fortunately, we've had a cool change and today's max is a much nicer 25 degrees.

Sydney: 45 degrees celcius (113 fahrenheit)

Melbourne: 17 degrees celcius (63 fahrenheit)

Tell me where you'd rather be?

Are journalists underpaid? asks Daniel Gross on Slate.

I would be inclined to say 'yes', but then, if I'm ever on the $100K + salary Gross speaks of (and inflation hasn't gone crazy), presuming I haven't lost my mind I'll probably be inclined to say 'no'. LG, Life's Good. (Please direct all advertorial payments to...)

In any case, it's the night before Christmas and having spent the past three days lifting heavy boxes (just moved house) all the while sniffling with a flu, I'm bloody tired. Yes, I've been reading your livejournals, I've just been too tired to comment. For the past month or so.

And so I shall bid thee adieu and go drink diet pepsi and read magazines.