Eurovision 2022 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

When everyone has left the stage … the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 grand final wrap-up

Posted on May 17, 2022May 15, 2023 by aussiemoose

The Eurovision Song Contest is over for another year. It’s sad, as always, because if there is one thing Eurovision does better than just about any other event, it’s remind us that good and wonderful things still exist in the world. Beset as we are by war, climate change, rising Continue Reading

#Eurovision 2022 – Italian cultural festival TV review: An Astrological Guide For Broken Hearts / Guida astrologica per cuori infranti (S1 & 2)

Posted on May 14, 2022May 14, 2022 by aussiemoose

The recipe for the average romantic comedy is relatively simple. Two people who meet-cute in the most magical or banal of circumstances whereby an immediate, irresistible connection is sparked, one which cannot, of course, be given into because of one major obstacle, or several, and which after some torturous will-they, Continue Reading

Whimsically powerful pop: My 5 favourite Eurovision songs of all time

Posted on May 13, 2022May 12, 2022 by aussiemoose

Like a lot of people I have been watching the Eurovision Song Contest for a great many years. During that time, I have fallen in love with a great many songs – contrary to what the naysayers and trolls say the contest produces far more catchy songs than it does Continue Reading

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 7 – The Big 5 – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom (grand final)

Posted on May 8, 2022May 8, 2022 by aussiemoose

What is the Eurovision Song Contest?Started way back in 1956 as a way of drawing a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open to Continue Reading

#Eurovision 2022 – Italian cultural festival book review: The Eight Mountains (Le otto montagne) by Paolo Cognetti

Posted on May 7, 2022May 7, 2022 by aussiemoose

People often define themselves in terms of context and relationships, and both these important markers of human expression are on poignant display in The Eight Mountains (Le otto montagne) by Paolo Cognetti, a novel which explores how both impact the life of one young Italian man who is surrounded by Continue Reading

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 6 – North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Sweden (semi-final 2, part 3) + Semi-final 2 top 10 picks

Posted on April 30, 2022May 14, 2022 by aussiemoose

#Eurovision 2022 – Italian cultural festival music review: Sangiovanni, Fedez + Achille Lauro + Orietta Berti, BLANCO, Colapesce + Dimartino, Capo Plaza

Posted on April 29, 2022April 27, 2022 by aussiemoose

The #1 position of a music chart is always a heady place to occupy. Reaching that coveted spot means lots and lots of people not only love your music but love it enough to stream it, buy it and keep playing it over and over; it makes sense, when selecting Continue Reading

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 5 – Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Israel, Malta, Montenegro (semi-final 2, part 2)

Posted on April 23, 2022April 22, 2022 by aussiemoose

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 4 – Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia (semi-final 2, part 1)

Posted on April 17, 2022April 14, 2022 by aussiemoose

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 3 – Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine (semi-final 1, part 3) + Semi-final 1 top 10 picks

Posted on April 10, 2022December 13, 2024 by aussiemoose

Merry pop culture Christmas to all … and to all a good streaming-reading-listening night! (Bonus The Penguins of Madagascar Christmas Special)

(courtesy Pinterest (c) Peanuts) Merry pop culture Christmas everyone! Another year has somehow zoomed right through, around and past us, offering up far too many books and movies and TV/streaming show and songs and graphic novels to consume in one lifetime, but reminding us as we gobbled what we could Continue Reading

Festive children’s book review: The Christmas Carrolls: The Christmas Competition by Mel Taylor Bessent

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) Is it possible to celebrate Christmas too much? That’s not something the titular characters from Mel Taylor-Bessent’s The Christmas Carrolls might ever have said; after all, they mark the most wonderful time of the year every single day with endless roast dinners, legions of Christmas Continue Reading

Festive holiday short review: The Boy & the Octopus

(courtesy IMDb) SNAPSHOTThe film follows the journey of a child who discovers a curious octopus has attached to his head during a seaside vacation. After returning home, the boy forms a true friendship with the octopus by introducing his new companion to his life on land – harnessing the power Continue Reading

On 12th day of Christmas … I read Christmas at the Little Bookshop by the Sea by Eliza J. Scott

(courtesy Storm Publishing) Whenever you plunge into a festive romcom, you rightly expect that you will feel like you’ve given the warmest and cosiest of hugs. One made of love and redemption and healing and all the trappings of the season from decorations and mulled wine, snowmen and wreaths string Continue Reading

Festive animated feature film review: Santa’s Apprentice

If you watched a fair amount of festive programming, you will be well familiar with the idea that there are not a lot of new ideas under the Christmas storytelling sun. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; we like our festive tropes and cliches held close and to pop up Continue Reading

On 11th day of Christmas … I watched new The Simpsons festive special “Oh C’mon All Ye Faithful”

(courtesy IMDb (c) Disney+) The Simpsons are known for their irreverence and willingness to skewer all the weird and strange and bombastically expressed pomposities of life. But for all the propensity of the 36-season-long, Matt Groening-created show to parody and satirise and push the critical envelope, it has demonstrated over Continue Reading

Festive book review: Finding My Elf by David Valdes

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers) Life crises, especially those of a more existential variety, are never a loot of fun. All of the things you once took as gospel, the certainties you could count on in a world not exactly sporting them in profusion, are suddenly well and truly up in Continue Reading

On 10th day of Christmas … I listened to Sleigher by Ben Folds

(courtesy YouTube) I am, for all my love of upsetting apple carts and pushing envelopes, especially creatively, quite traditional when it comes to Christmas music. That’s not to say that this reviewer wants choral extravaganzas or hymn-drenched carols, though they can be delightful in a sparing context; no, traditional in Continue Reading

Festive short film review: An Almost Christmas Story

(courtesy IMDb (c) Disney+) SNAPSHOTAn Almost Christmas Story (produced by five-time Academy Award® winner Alfonso Cuarón & directed by David Lowery) is inspired by the true events of a tiny owl rescued from the New York City’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 2020. The short’s trailer reveals Moon, a curious Continue Reading

On 9th day of Christmas … I read The Merry Matchmaker by Sheila Roberts

(courtesy Harper Collins Canada) If you’re going t do a festively fun take on a novel as loved and revered as Jane Austen’s Emma, then you need to be up to the task of doing it justice. Thankfully, Sheila Roberts is more than up to the task with her new Continue Reading