Fabulous Fridays: 18 February 2011

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a deliciously romantic Valentine's Day and that your weekend will bring even more excitement. I've rounded up some beauties for you this week...

• New York firemen? As Samantha said, "Hello, 911? I'm on fire!".
• This Telstra commercial cracks me up every time I watch it. Smiley face!
• The ancient art of pornogami. Brings new meaning to "hand job".
• There, I Fixed It -- the epic failings of men trying to fix stuff. Some are borderline genius, take a look!
• Surely there are nicer ways to have your nuptials on the cheap than a McDonald's wedding?
• The Pinup Boutique is a treasure trove of cute retro pieces, especially the pink Pinup Natalie dress and Switchblade Leopard cardigan.
• Spiders on drugs and the webs they build. Funny sh*t.
• Two and a Half Men is basically "Charlie Sheen Acts Like His Usual Knob Jockey Self" -- the TV show. Hate it, hate it, hate it. Why are we encouraging him?
• Apparently I'm a beer, a nickname for Posh's husband and titties on a fat guy. How does Urban Dictionary define you? 

Latest loves...

Reading: The Writing Class by Jincy Willett -- a fun whodunnit where a writing class has a killer in their midst and Yes Man, which is brilliant so far.

Listening: Strangely enough, classical music. Adam switched over my car radio and now I'm actually enjoying it!

Tasting: Cookies 'n' cream chillers from Gloria Jean's, sushi, stick date cupcake.

Loving: The Hills (my shameful midday secret viewing), the Lush bath bombs I won, no more banging from the gutter repair guy (no, not like that -- get your mind out of the gutter -- ho ho), our Japanese dinner on Valentine's Day, the Lost in Austen mini series a chick I met at a wedding recommended.

Awaiting: Watching a comedian and a burlesque show at the Fringe Festival, returning to blonde bombshell status, playing our friends' Murder, She Wrote board game, cuddly winter clothes, earning some real money!

So it's goodbye from me and goodbye from her (points at self). The joke doesn't really work when you're not The Two Ronnies!

Behind the Scenes Look at Magazines

New show Park St will debut on Foxtel's Arena channel on Wednesday, 23 February at 8:30pm. 


Running for ten weeks, it will reveal how top fashion magazines operate and (I'm imagining) all the fun, clothes, celebrities, deadlines and models it entails. I. Need. Foxtel. NOW!!!

The show will follow the editors, stylists, photographers, sales and creative staff of five titles at ACP Magazines (the biggest publishing house in Australia). The editors are pictured above, left to right:

• Cleo -- Gemma Crisp
• Madison -- Lizzie Renkert
• Cosmopolitan -- Jessica Parry (Acting Editor)
• Dolly -- Tiffany Dunk
• Shop Til You Drop -- Justine Cullen

In this month's Shop Til You Drop there is a promotional fashion shoot of how staffers wish they looked doing their jobs, with faux editors, fashion assistants and interns. Pretty savvy marketing and some very sharp fashion.

Apart from the fact this documentary will likely prove fascinating, I'd love any insight it can impart into how to impress these editors with my pitches for feature articles.

I may have to mug someone with Foxtel.

Magazine Guide #18: Weight Watchers

Publication: Weight Watchers
How Often Does It Come Out: Monthly
Distribution: National

Contributors vs Staff Writers:
There are four experts, in the areas of fitness, nutrition, food and men's health. Although they aren't listed as staff on the masthead, a couple of writers have two articles published in this issue, suggesting the magazine has a stable of preferred freelancers. Overall, signs are promising though.

Target Audience:
Age: 18+
Gender: Female
Interests: Weight loss, beauty, health, nutrition, beauty, fitness, psychology.

Topics and Themes:
Miraculous weight loss stories with the aid of Weight Watchers are obviously a focus. Articles "Think Yourself Slim," "The Simple 7-day Confidence Plan," "10 Reasons to Trim Down With Weights" and "Love After Weight Loss" are representative.

Length of Features:
Usually 500-1,500 words.

Tone and Style of Writing:
Lists and time limits are popular, eg "10 Reasons to...", "The 7-day Plan to..." and "10 minutes to...". Articles tend to promise readers a benefit. Other devices include breakout boxes, a food diary, case studies, sub-headings, and FAQs. The tone is positive and encourages readers to set and achieve goals.

About How Many Features:
Eleven.

Fabulous Fridays: 11 February 2011

THE LOVE ISSUE

In honour of Valentine's Day, this week it's The Love Issue of Fabulous Fridays. Coupled up or sexy and single, here's some links to get you feeling the love...

• Show yourself some love with a delicious, healthy, chocolatey drink. At a cafe I recently discovered rocky road tea made out of, strangely, carrots. It actually tasted like the real thing! Here's a cherry ripe version for you to try.
• Gala Darling: The Playgirl's Guide to Radical Self Love is a blog that gives me heaps of inspiration, both for this blog and personally. Her lists of ways to make yourself happy are brilliant.
• Okay, they'd be real gas guzzlers, but they're so, so pretty. A girl at burlesque class has a pink Hillman, which I'd never heard of, but it's incredibly cute!
• Dress like every day's a romance with Esme and the Lane Way, the latest newcomer to my Fashion Blogs sidebar list.
• Trying to change your bed karma like Miranda in Sex and the City? Build your own field of dreams.
• Get some loving from the rabbit. No, it's not Charlotte's vibrator.
• Feel like creating a little romance? Enter a contest run by the Romance Writers of Australia and you could be writing all about when Trey sinks his Schooner deep into Charlotte's Rebecca (yes, I was mucho disturbed when Charlotte named her hoo-ha after me).
• For another great date... the world's best dessert.
• Hey, I didn't know this existed... Love magazine by Conde Nast. I'm intrigued by the two girls kissing on the cover...
• There's scarcely a more moving scene in Glee than when Kurt's dad is in hospital on life support and Kurt sings "I Want to Hold Your Hand". Cue flashbacks of the mum's funeral and Kurt as a little boy. Awww.
• Carry love with you every day and look a little bit gangsta doing it.

Good day to you, my lovelies!

Blake Lively to Star in New "Sex and the City" Movie?

Rumour has it Blake Lively is to star in a new Sex and the City movie, a prequel based on The Carrie Diaries about a young Carrie Bradshaw.

I was sent the link to the Grazia magazine story last night. I'm in two minds about this one. I have to admit, I haven't read the book (although I've read a few other novels by Candace Bushnell), but Gossip Girl's Blake seems a decent choice to play young Carrie.

My main concern is going back in time with the story. While it's nice to think that the series won't end on the last ho-hum movie effort, I have an innate suspicion and hatred of prequels. How can you build up suspense when the audience already knows the ending to the story?

The rumour is apparently already being quashed by Blake's people, but maybe the movie project is still a goer. What do you think? Do want or don't waste my time?