Bow Down: Olympus PEN E-P3

We’ve held off writing this review for almost  3 months, why, well put simply – it was hard to believe a camera could be this good. Literally, we fell in love with the Olympus PEN E-P3. Those clever little boffins at Olympus make some pretty bold claims on the E-P3, Geat Lens Range ✓ World’s Fastest Auto Focus ✓ Superior Picture Quality ✓ HD Video Stabalisation ✓ Ooh, and that Popup Flash ✓ Good User Interface and Brilliant OLED Screen ✓ PEN E-P3 ticks all the boxes, seems the mighty claims Olympus make aren’t simply rhetoric! This is beginning to look a lot like an advertisement right?? it’s not. We can’t sing the praises of this camera highly enough. EP-3 could be the first camera that will satisfy the desires a broad range of photo hobbyists – from weekend warriors to die-hard bloggers – the photo hound who knows the difference between a zoom and a macro lens. If what you want is to take relatively straight forward photos that look great and don’t need the power of a weighty  DSLR, the EP-3 is very possibly for you. M★C  READ MORE

Shut The F_ck UP: Leisha Hailey

The L-Word Actress was booted of plane for swearing – not kissing. Lesbian actress Leisha Hailey and her girlfriend Camila Grey were escorted off a plane as it sat at a Texas airport because of their potty-mouths, not their passion lips or tongue tangling. A Southwest Airlines spokesperson said the couple became profane after being reprimanded for what actress Leisha Hailey characterised as “one modest kiss” Hailey immediately jumped onboard Twitter accusing the airline of Lesbian Hating and called for an immediate boycott of Southwest Airlines. Hailey has got to be thanking her lucky starlessness for the incident! She’s been thrown back into the international media spotlight – for 12 minutes. Halley’s publicist Libby Coffey said the encounter was real and was “absolutely not” done as a publicity stunt. Hailey and girlyfriend Camila Grey also denied in a statement on Tuesday that the affection they showed toward each other was inappropriate. READ MORE

READ A BOOK! Mark Mazower: Dark Continent

I would normally churn through a book in a day, not skimming but reading. Mazower’s Dark Continent took 3 days and I’m now on my 3rd round, simply, I LOVE THIS BOOK. The premise is one that I’ve always found arduous to put into words: Our now perspective of history has little to do with the events that took place, the events that created what we now call history. Mazower invites current day Europeans to come to embrace the latest governing ethos - The European Union - to come alive in their continent . Nations subscribing to it, distinct in language, religion, law, and historical experience, have little to guide them in their adventure into the unknown except the previous collective experiments with which, in this century, the continent has been hounded near to death. In todays Europe this is more relevant than ever before.  Dark Continent provides an alternative history of the twentieth century, one in which the triumph of democracy was anything but a forgone conclusion and fascism and communism provided rival political solutions that battled and sometimes triumphed in an effort to determine the course the continent would take. Mark Mazower strips away myths that have comforted us since World War II, revealing Europe as an entity constantly engaged in a bloody project of self-invention.  Here is a history not of inevitable victories and forward marches, but of narrow squeaks and unexpected twists, where townships boast a bronze of Mussolini on horseback one moment, only to melt it down and recast it as a pair of noble partisans the next.  Unflinching, intelligent, Dark Continent provides a provocative vision of Europe’s past, present, and future!  M★C READ MORE

Rent Conan O'Brien's Studio ~ October 10 to 13, 2011

According to the blip – via airbnb – Our favorite Carrot-top, Conan, is looking for some extra money? So he’s put his studio up for rent on Airbnb.com. It can be yours for 4 days and 3 nights. The ad reads “Cozy and charming “Conan” television studio located in the heart of Burbank, CA, only a short walk to the set of “Gilmore Girls” and Warner Bros commissary. Historic building where 1987 drama “Nuts”, starring Barbara Streisand, was filmed. Currently used to film “Conan” television program. Sleeping accommodation includes a celebrity-rubbed sleeper sofa. Additional Guest accommodation is available: an air mattress (needs repair+air) Linen is provided, but it’s recommend you bring your own – undisclosed reasons?!  M★C READ MORE

Quote of the Day: Rainer Maria Rilke

Hold Your Breath Gamers, R18+ Not Quite Almost Here!?

After almost three years of public consultation and industry wide debate, the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games in Australia is teatering on the line. It looks as though it may go through however it’s been delayed once more due to the failure of federal, state and territory attorneys-general to reach a unanimous decision!? The Standing Council of Attorneys-General Meeting may have reached an in-principle agreement has been reached between the various states and territories of Australia to move ahead with the introduction of an R18+ rating for video and computer games. New South Wales was the only state to abstain from endorsing the proposal, citing a need to consult with cabinet on the issue M★C READ MORE