CHICKAS...

At Hamburg airport I ran into Jorge, the catwalk trainer of Germany's next topmodel, who took the plane to Köln/Bonn, where a couple of days later happened the big finale of this topmodel season. I just had to take a picture with him, surprisingly he was wearing flats, but those studded brogues by Christian Louboutin are an amazing excuse! So Chickas, what do you think?

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Am Hamburger Flughafen habe ich Jorge, den Catwalk Trainer von Germanys next Topmodel getroffen, der den Flieger nach Köln/Bonn nahm, wo ein paar Tage später ja das grosse Finale stattfand. So musste ich einfach ein Foto von und mit ihm machen! Überraschenderweise trug er sogar flache Schuhe, aber die mit Strass besetzten Brogues von Christian Louboutin sind ja ein guter Ersatz! Also Chickas, was meint ihr?

Everybody loves Joe Avati - including Phil Rosenthal

The faces are familiar, and if you're a true comedy fan, you'll already know who they are:



It's our Italo-Australian funny man Joe Avati and writer, creator and director of the long-running hit TV series, "Everybody Loves Raymond" Phil Rosenthal, the latter in Sydney as a special guest of the Sydney Film Festival, ahead of the screening of "Exporting Raymond".



Joe Avati is of course renowned as Aussie/Itie comedian and TV presenter, now a virtual household name after successfully touring his award-winning show Il Dago all around Australia since early 2007, as well as hosting SBS TV show “Food Investigators” (Joe is also a food scientist!) and building a very successful 20-year career based on his own over-bearing, very funny Italian relatives – just like Raymond's in his hit-show!



Phil is here for the Australian debut of his feature, “Exporting Raymond”, all about attempting to make a Russian version of "Everybody Loves Raymond", with hilarious results.



Phil asked Joe what would make a funny Australian version of the hit series. Joe says his own nonna would have to be a central character. She "can’t operate technology... dips a piece of bread into the oil after she uses the George Foreman Grill... and every day, she asks me when I’m getting married like a good Italian boy."



Joe has enjoyed huge success in North America, and one of his greatest fans happens to be Ray Romano’s wife - she even owns copies of Joe's DVDs and CDs.



Joe is currently touring Sydney with his Il Dago co-stars George Kapiniaris, Simon Palomares, and Jason Chong in their final season of the award-winning sell-out show Il Dago II: Now With Noodles.



For more info on Il Dago, go here: http://www.joeavati.com/ildago/



For more on Exporting Raymond, go here: http://sff.org.au/films-container/exporting-raymond/



(Photo credit, Phil and Joe: Andrew Siwak)



To see the trailer of this flick, go here:

25h HAMBURG

During our trip to Hamburg, we stayed at the 25h design hotel, which I only can recommend. It is near to the Neue Flora, where we saw Tarzan- the musical and Schanzenviertel with all the restaurants and bars. Every room is a little different and on the walls are a lot of illustrations.

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Während unserem Hamburg Besuch, schliefen wir im 25h Designhotel, das wirklich zu empfehlen ist. Es ist in der Nähe der Neuen Flora, wo wir uns Tarzan - das Musical angeschaut haben, und dem Schanzenviertel mit all seinen Restaurants und Bars. Jedes Zimmer ist etwas anders und die Wände sind mit Illustrationen versehen.

The Amazing Race Australia - Chris and Anastasia: is Chris truly sorry?

The biggest talking point of The Amazing Race Australia - now that Richard and Joey are gone - has undoubtedly been this clip (see blog post: http://josiesjuice.blogspot.com/2011/06/amazing-race-australia-chris-and.html)



Many have been disturbed by Chris's outburst towards his partner Anastasia, and the comments on the blog post above, and on the show's Facebook page, have been nothing short of explosive.



But Chris appears to show much deep remorse, and says he is in the process of bettering himself.



In an article in the Herald Sun yesterday, he said:



"It's been a bit embarrassing, the things I said, and it's a good wake-up call as a person," said Chris.



"I have to fix those problems. I take full responsibility for the way I behaved. It's up to me to prove I'm a respectful person. I wish I could tell everyone one by one that."



You can read the rest of the article here:



http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/racers-shame-over-treatment-of-partner/story-e6frf96x-1226073590038



What do you think? Is the relationship a recipe for disaster? Is it doom-filled, as so many (strangers) are convinced? Is it even our business? Have you been in this kind of relationship, and how has it fared?



Feel free to comment here.