mamamedia liveblogs :: 2014 Big Brother Finale

WE ARE ATTEMPTING OUR FIRST LIVEBLOG, PEOPLE. Strap yourselves in. 

8:45: Oops, missed the beginning, too busy with ARIAs. 

8:49: Oh no, they're making them dance. That always ends well. 

* baby cried, missed a bit *

9:00: Recapping scandals with ex HMs, saw Cat & Lawson shoot each other a look. This should be good. 

9:04: No groundbreaking revelations there. Aish loves Trav, Jason's a fence sitter, and Cat won't admit that Lawson's best trick is Hide the Sausage. 

9:06: CONFLICTS. Katie & Lisa commentating; again, no real shockers. 

9:12: Recapping first 4 weeks - ahh, so many people. Money, kissing, kissing, strategy, dogs, strategy. 

9:16: These ex HM chats just show how little some of these people contributed to the narrative. "Marina! You can talk about....uhhh...Big Brother himself! Yeah that'll do." My bet is they'll have Dave & Priya discuss strategies. 

9:18: Sonia putting Lawson on the spot re: Cat. Good one Krugs. 

9:21: Oh Krugs is on fire - picking up on Jake & Lisa's relationship now. 

9:24: Leo votes for Travis to win, I really wish they'd shown us Skye's reaction to that. 

9:25: BB FINALE DRINKING GAME: Every time the camera turns to Skye and she fixes her hair, drink!

9:26: If you only watched the highlight package of her time in the house, Skye would seem like a lovely, sweet girl. Pity about the rest of the show. 

9:31: Recap of next 4 weeks. Clawson, Clawson, fight, tears, fight, evictions, Marina, tears. 

9:36: News update for the finalists. My favourite part of the finale!

9:37: Skye: "I don't watch the news!" Ryan: "You can hardly tell!" RYAN TO WIN. 

9:47: Recap weeks 9-10. Clawson, Travis, neighbors, sanctuary, Leo, tears, How To. 

9:56: Loved ones waiting at the door for the third place getter. Ryan's parents are adorable. 

 

9:58: Skye's sister is going to tell her she's put on weight. That's sibling love for you. 

10:07: It's time to go...SKYE!!! Finally, Australia's done the right thing. 

10:08: Ryan & Travis: last pair in, last pair out. A very fitting final two. 

10:14: Skye trips on the stairs into the auditorium - I've been waiting all season for someone to slip on that shiny floor. 

10:26: Big Brother tribute package - some of these HMs really can't deliver lines comfortably. Katie on the other hand, could make a really good weather girl. This definitely feels like a farewell to BB - for good. Worried that it's not coming back next year. 

10:28: Winner announcement imminent. As Trav would say - MASSIV. 

10:29: And the winner of Big Brother is...

10:30: ...RYAN!

* and at this point my daughter decided to soil her clothes & needed a bath. I returned to Trav's highlights package *

10:53: Ryan's out on stage now, and in shock by the looks of it. 

10:58: Highlights package done & dusted - a great HM all round in my opinion. 

11:00 "It's time to go...and have a baby!" We're out. 

All in all, I'm happy with how the season turned out. I would've liked for Dave to make it a bit further, but what can you do. 

And after all the speculation, it turns out that fears for the demise of BB may be premature - Sonia put out a casting call as the credits rolled. So we can do this all again next year!

mamamusings :: Meet Me In The Blanket Fort

As I write this, I'm in hiding. Any minute now, my tormentors could discover me, and the jig will be up.

I am, of course, referring to my darling husband & baby daughter.

In the infamous SSB episode of Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw spoke of her need to "decompress" at the end of the day - to walk into her apartment and be silent and alone. Now that I'm a mother, the only time I get to decompress is once the baby is down for the night - usually around 11pm. If you were to come into my bedroom around 1 in the morning, you would find me curled up with my iPad, catching up on my twitter feed, or reading a book by nightlight. Or occasionally, sitting on the bench top in my ensuite reading magazines. It's the only "me time" I get.

Don't get me wrong - I love my daughter with a ferocity heretofore unknown. She is delightful. But some days are harder than others, and I miss being able to take moments for myself to just breathe.

So today, I decided I was taking time out for myself. I took the baby downstairs with B, got her to sleep, and came up here & climbed straight back into bed. B thinks I have a migraine & need to sleep it off (which isn't a lie - my head is pounding this morning) but really, I just need a break. A moment to myself, hiding under the covers with a packet of biscuits and a copy of ELLE from March that I still haven't read. 

A moment, before Liv wakes and the jig is truly up.

Flashback Friday :: Big Brother 2001

EDITED TO ADD: I know, I know - it's not Friday. Good one Jess. This was intended to post on Friday, and stupid me hit Save as Draft instead of Publish. I could have just kept it & posted next Friday, but...I don't like having completed posts hanging around when they could be out there being read! So there you go. As I said on Twitter (follow me @mamamedia_au to read my condensed ramblings!) can I still blame it on baby brain? Survey says yes.


Being on maternity leave has meant that I have found myself with plenty of TV watching time on my hands. Let's face it - when you're spending a significant portion of your day breastfeeding, there's not much else you can do!

I've been taking a little walk down memory lane today, by starting to re-watch the inaugural season of Big Brother Australia. I wasn't a particularly avid viewer when it premiered - it was on my radar, but I wasn't much of a fan until the 2004/05 seasons.
 

So with that said, here are some of my thoughts so far...

:: They were allowed to take books in?! When did that rule change? To me, the whole challenge of BB is the lack of stimulation. Being able to take books & magazines means it was basically a holiday with strangers. A Contiki tour without the tour, if you will.  

:: And speaking of budget accommodation...God this house is basic. Single beds, a TV on wheels with a little speaker for the contestants to control, a cinderblock BBQ...it's like a school camp.

:: They definitely didn't go to great lengths to hide the cameras & mics this season, did they.

:: Gretel got away with so much more than Sonia would these days. From asking Sara-Marie if her lockdown buddy was any good in bed, to wondering whether Pete & Christina had feelings for each other or were just looking for a bit of "fiddledy-diddle" the innuendo is fantastic.

:: I miss Leon Murray's voice.

I think the later seasons have ruined me slightly for the early years. I'm used to the slick production values and flashy houses of the Channel 9 era. Although, I must admit that it's a bit refreshing to see the format at its most basic: a group of strangers, cut off from society, and forced to live together. No twists, no tricks, a true social experiment.

Personally, I think future seasons (if there are any; ratings haven't been stellar this year) should try and go back to basics a bit. Since the move from Channel 10 to 9, the show has pulled out more & more stunts, especially this season: Heads of House, Power Plays, 6 intruders, and almost $60,000 handed out to contestants already, with another $50,000 offered and refused. Whilst this might make for entertaining viewing and juicy promo material, it completely changes the nature of the game and can - consciously or not - affect the behaviour of the housemates. They are no longer just living in a house with a bunch of random new friends, they are killing time, waiting for the next big surprise: Will we be offered money? Will my family member walk through the door? Are we getting another 10 intruders? When will the next exciting thing be happening?! After all, it's not like they have much else in that house to think about...

OVER TO YOU! Thoughts? Do you like the flashy, new-gen BB, or are you a purist? Are you like my husband, who likes to act as if it's the worst program in the world, yet becomes ridiculously invested? OR, are you like my mother in law, who has studied sociology and finds it abhorrent, and wants it cancelled for good?
 

 

Breast Cancer. What. A. Bitch.

Been a bit quiet on the ol' blog front. Our family has had some unfortunate news in the last few weeks.

Two weeks ago, my mother in law was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. She has had surgery and is slowly on the mend whilst awaiting pathology results.

Needless to say, my husband is a bit broken. His parents separated when he was quite young, and he's a mama's boy to the core. In the best kind of way of course.

I've found myself in the enviable position of being both a wife trying to keep her husband's spirits up, and the daughter of a cancer survivor. My father was diagnosed with leukaemia when I was 17 and I vividly remember how much I hated the 'positive thinking' bullshit that people spout at someone dealing with a serious illness. I know, I know - they only mean well, and there's not much else they can say. I know. But when your loved one - especially a parent - is hooked up to a chemo drip, the last thing you want to hear is "don't worry! It will be fine!" Because YOU DON'T KNOW THAT.

My MIL is a tough broad though. She's tiny of stature, but definitely not of spirit. She once got into an argument with a former Federal Opposition leader - in public - and OWNED his arse when he tried to talk down to her. She's an incredible woman who I have so much respect & admiration for, and who raised the most wonderful, caring & respectful man that I have ever met.

I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging though. I tried to keep it up over the last couple of weeks, but life inevitably got in the way, so I'm now left with a pile of half-finished posts that are destined for the trash can, as they are - literally - last weeks news.

Anyway. Onwards and up.