The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • 12

12 Friday January 4 2002 smhcomau 2002 Guest editor David Dale This week Spike has been previewing the next 361 days This is how the last quarter will be to coincide with a by-election in which Kim Beazley becomes MP for Ashfield Mr Beazley has satisfied residency requirements by secretly living in Glebe since January The NSW Labor MPs transcend factional and regional differences and make Mr Beazley premier Weight Watchers announces that its new spokesmodels will be Shane Wame and Cathy Freeman who will Today's digital mischief-making In Spike: B1 and B2 find new mates John Dobby does damage Bob goes to war and the 66 escapes by 23 per cent Rodney Adler says there was no sign of any difficulty when he resigned from rhe ABC board one week before the collapse NW magazine reports that Bob Hawke and Blanche d'Alpuget have separated amicably and that B1 is dating swimsuit model Annaliese Braakensiek while B2 is dating Big Brother winner Ben Williams November Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is released into 420 cinemas with a censorship rating of R18 Apparently the director Chris Columbus was stung by criticism that the first movie stuck too slavishly to the book and decided to make the second movie more challenging Critics don't know what to make of the graphic violence inflicted by Dobby the House Elf (John Travolta) by the long patches of dialogue conducted in Latin without subtitles and by the intimate sequence in the back seat of the flying car between professors Dumbledore and McGonigall Dick Smith becomes embroiled in controversy after it is revealed that his peanut butter is made in factories within refugee camps in Nauru He says: see what the fuss is about Under international law those camps are Australian soil And since we pay diem die same rate as the Nike sneaker factories it's not as ifmuchofour earnings are leaving the Australian October The NSW Premier Bob Carr announces his resignation He will move to America to take up the position of Director of Civil War Reenactments at the Gettysburg National Monument Pennsylvania am obliged to tell you that I have always wanted a Gettysburg address" Mr Carr says Immediately the politically ambitious start manoeuvring for the party leadership The Police Minister Michael Costa tells Alan Jones on 2GB breakfast: "I am quietly confident mate a few well-placed carrots and sticks and I reckon have the numbers" Almost identical sentiments are expressed by Frank Sartor to Philip Clark who has returned to 702 breakfast after Angela Cattems tripped on a microphone cord racing back from her 8am break Former One Nation leader David Oldfield crosses the floor and joins die ALP telling Peter Ryan on 2UE breakfast the party will make him leader because of his understanding of heartland attitudes and his commitment to law and order "If I can destroy Pauline Hanson have no trouble destroying Kerry he says But nobody realises that Bob Carr has already organised the succession He times his departure The Attorney-General Brendan Nelson reveals thatASIO has uncovered a failed plot by Afghan extremists to capture a plane and fly it into Blues Point Tbwer The terrorists aborted the plan at the last minute when they realised nobody would be upset December The acting Prime Minister Peter Costello announces that the Queen has approved his nomination for new Governor-General It will be John Howard who will resign forthwith as member for Bennelong are delighted to have secured die services of a statesman of proven impartiality" says Mr Costello At a press conference journalists ask Mr Howard why he is so pale considering he has been on holidays at Hawks Nest for 11 months don't suppose there is any harm in telling you Mr Howard says after Christmas I told Costello I was not going to step down during this term so it would be at least three years before he could be prime minister The next day a squad from AS IS arrived at my holiday flat and said they had to move me to a safe house in southern Tasmania until the threat to my security was over Since then the only human contact had was a weekly phone call from Costello asking you changed your mind I would still be there if I talked him into the Governor-General Liberal MPs meet to elect a new leader They choose Bronwyn Bishop operate under the slogan eat and Asked why he sdll has not nominated a new Governor-General the acting Prime Minister Peter Costello says he has more urgent priorities It becomes apparent what these are the next day when die ABC goes into voluntary liquidation SBS says it will make every effort to take over the more profitable of the ABCs enterprises and that advertising rates wi ll rise Spite WILL letcrtt wHiessit wrMAcrive rum wit no HMStii OR ftiF JOSSIf IT MS wiu cone viith TYFfWlt 0E3p rJ WANT to talk AHOTTHIS TAto'S FUTURE 7KT nJtfa Male voyeur is back this time he called a stockbroker A Web site more like an online lingerie restaurant lets suits remind themselves naked women are a just crisp dollar bill away heard claims that male workers on the Sydney Futures Exchange trading floor regularly asked colleagues including those of the same sex for a job" or to over" They called each other or Traders defended it as a unique environment with its own stresses and codes of practice I knew a bunch of blokes like As feminism has grappled with and been accommodated by a consumerist youth and beauty-obsessed culture over the past decade the Male Mryeur has re-emerged unabashed unapologetic and looking for a good time He's James Bond Austin Powers with his mojo back He's desperately trying to be cool On one level Marketwrap Unwrapped is a money-making gig using a familiar ploy to persuade an audience to pay for information readily available elsewhere while taking the mickey out of some of the more boring news segments also a reflection of the vacuity of a computer-driven air-conditioned corporatised life At the end of the day it's basically bored stressed -out blokes fulfilling their fantasies with pom A director Sam Ruddock admitted the site on the stockmarketpom industry But very tame only rated All the girls that do it love it If you watch the Wrap see how much fun Sounds like a hoot Bye until next time jbalrdtsmhcoiiuu her undies When the dollar dived so did the clobber" Apparently plans are under way to bring in so me blokes in the raw to attract women and gays to the site But it's clearly not the main game Such a cliche it? Girls nudity and money like an online lingerie restaurant where suits can escape at midday to remind themselves semi-naked women a re just a crisp dollar bill away Far easier to deal with than shirty female colleagues and high maintenance girlfriends But the site also plays on a long-running association of money-making with virility where Big Men have big incomes and babes on their arms Following the lead of die lads in Swingers the word is even used as a superlative in some circles It is also significant that the site caters for the niche market of the fairly unique hot-blooded and wealthy young-gun financial world Remember that sexual discrimination case against Bankers Trust in 1996? The Equal Opportunity Tribunal CO Penthouse pet peel off their clothes layer by layer By the end of the report they are totally In the raw and sign off cheerily with the catchline until next time when I look forward to all of you seeing all of me" Makes Jessica and Sandra look likeprudes it? The site is an adaptation of a Canadian Web site called Naked News where all kinds of news reports are done in die buff Doubtless there are others However the Sydney site specifically and cleverly targets male stockbrokers One Journalist from Courier-Mail forced to visit the site for research purposes detailed his viewing experience: the bulletin we tuned in for the psychologist started to drop the shoulder straps when she got to the Dow Jones By the time she hit energy shares the top was gone And with a mention of the Nasdaq she began to play with thought there are so many red-hot brokers and male investors out there Ifthetfre losing money theywantasmUeon their face they're making money they want a bigger smile on their face" Sam Ruddock Market Wrap Unwrapped director Chicks Cash Cars Cool A new Web site dreamt up by a bunch of Sydney blokes and laundied late last year with little fanfare and a lot of nudity is fast becoming a cult among dty stockbrokers and economics called Maiketwrap Unwrapped and features women said to be the newsreaders in die world who strip as they read out the stockmarket reports In nightly market reports which run for 20 minutes the gorgeous" women whose former occupations include Temptation Island star psychologist air hostess and By the time she htt energy shares the top was gone When the dollar dived so dM the clobber in the ttockrketirttween lectures or drinks and regularly invited women to their it was their way of saying hello -1 kid you not bellow across a bar my Aussie horse Subtle huh? part of the enduring mythology of the hipness and sexual allure of moneyed men where blokes with cash are convinced chicks find them irresistible 2.