What Mel Wants

The film Joy is definitely the first film people should see after they finish watching Star Wars this December. Jennifer Lawrence plays a female inventor in the real story about Joy Mangano . This is more than an inspirational tale. It shows possibilities and lessons which any creative individual may encounter. Joy can teach entrepreneurs what they need to know. The film encourages anyone, entrepreneurial or otherwise, to be innovative go with their instincts.   Joy Mangano was the classic 'rags to riches' transformation when she invented the Miracle Mop. She initially advertised and sold the product through infomercials on television. Some of the TVCs are still available on Youtube , like this one from 1996.  Jennifer Lawrence is her usual beautiful sincere self in the role. J-Law is known for speaking her mind in actual life. So a strong female character is right up her alley. She brings out the humble determination which Joy would have originally displayed. 

Rob Schneider documented his own life and shared the tales on Netflix . Reviews were mixed and divided for this quirky comedian's style of semi-autobiographical series. But Real Rob is as authentic as necessary, as Schneider definitely did this project on his own terms. The official Rob Schneider web site says, “Schneider is the first actor to have written, produced, starred, directed and self-financed an entire season of a television show.” This is real.   The 52 year old has had a colourful life over the years, creating comedic films after getting started on Saturday Night Live. His career has been matched by an equally eventful  He has a grown-up daughter in from a previous marriage, 26 year old musician Elle King (born 3rd July 1989 - same date as this blogger). However, the actors/characters/stars of the series are his current wife and youngest daughter.  Real Rob is about the everyday life of Schneider's current young family. Schneider is now married to t

How I Met Your Mother hosted the perfect group of diverse friends. Each mate gives a moral to the story. We want to be all of them and none of them all at the same time. Every character could be you or me. That is why they are awesome. Ted stays optimistic amongst all odds Ted Mosby is optimistic over so many years. He has a goal and sticks to it. Very rarely does he doubt the possibility of finding the one. Plenty of twenty somethings end up disheartened at least for a little while. Gen Y got particularly stuck somewhere between the Global Financial Crisis and User Generated Content. We are finding our way. Ted reminds us to keep chasing our goals. Lily is tough and nice at the same time Alyson Hannigan stayed a superhero in this series. This show has a much lighter style to the seriousness of Willow from Buffy, where Hannigan shone. Lily keeps the group in line when they get silly. This character is more sure of her self, and breathes calmly amongst the strangest situat

I love Christmas celebrations. They are really delightful. Some are with people we normally see anyway, but it feels different. I enjoy reminding myself of the beliefs I grew up with. And everyone gets to have a warm and fuzzy festive time. Most of us put our differences aside to enjoy a unifying holiday. The 'traditional' cultural bits of Christmas are as fun as my beloved religious side. These days, it's the only time I eat a a roast dinner. I'm a busy modern individual with very basic cooking abilities. And when it just never gets chosen when I eat out. I just always prefer something less traditional. But we always get back to the good old 50s style roast at Christmas time. There's always a way. Even if nobody can cook on a particular year, we still find a buffet somewhere to feast on the classic. The decorations are equally beautiful. I don't normally put a lot of thought into interior design. Aesthetics are the last thing on my mind when I'm l

  My favourite family photo ever...  I recently read an email which went along the lines of this: "Sorry I won’t be able to join you on Sunday. Five minutes walking brings on real distress for me at present. Those who follow real media will know about my condition, See Column 8 in today’s (Saturday) and also last Wednesday’s  SMH." My grandfather was unwell. I was gradually piecing together the puzzle which had apparently been hidden in Column 8 of The Sydney Morning Herald. It is not normal to blog about a family member going into hospital. But it's equally abnormal to read about such hospitalisation in the paper. So, as the information was scattered across multiple editions of a publication, I feel the need to put everything into one place. Here's the story of Gary Wilson going into hospital, as told by Melanie and media.   I was alerted to the issue after the following couple of lines in an email from Gary: "Five minutes walking brings on real di

I am thoroughly enjoying a modern engagement. We need to customise existing morals with the needs of us as a couple. Some traditions do not seem as necessary now. And we feel more comfortable that way. The engagement started more than a month after we moved in together. This was not a 'try before you buy' mentality. We were constantly with each other whenever possible, before even considering cohabitation. We felt committed very early on. Commitment takes many forms. Many marriages end within months, years, or decades. Yet we feel comfortable and happily committed without signing a piece of paper. Contracts do not guarantee relationships. They symbolise them. I will gladly sign my life away with a contract on my wedding day. That piece of paper will not ensure our relationship. The document will symbolise it. We will have a creative formal celebration of our public lifelong relationship. As the woman, I felt untraditional enough to do the proposing. I wasn't going

Melanie’s Sing Along Playlist Some songs are so catchy, all you can do is sing along. This is not about karaoke. It’s background music that feels ultra catchy.   500 Miles The Proclaimers   This song gets the top spot because of the appearance in How I Met Your Mother. Ted and Marshall famously listened to this song when driving on road trips. Marshall held a particular obsession to the song.    HIMYM rekindled the spark of this song. The track was originally released in 1988. Then it returned to the big screen for this episode in 2007. It's fair to say a new audience was introduced, or at least reminded, with this cool sing along.  It's worth checking out the original version. There's are plenty of chances to giggle at the 80s hair along the way.  It's My Life  Bon Jovi   It's My Lift is the anthem for every individualist who wants real freedom. Do what you want. When else will you get t