Archives for September 2023

Hollywood superstar Eric Bana has taken the cake with a hilarious joke during the annual Big Freeze at the MCG.

Bana was the last of the nine celebrities to take the icy plunge, but it was a case of saving the best until last.

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The St Kilda super fan went down dressed up as former Saints cult hero Carl Ditterich, but it was his one-liner before sliding that drew the laughs from a packed MCG.

“I brought a ball with me because apparently I’ll lose a couple on the way down,” he said.

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Mick Fanning

The three-world surfing world champion went down as the Silver Surfer – a comic book character from Marvel.

When asked if he considered a wetsuit for the icy plunge, Fanning said: “No, no, we have to fight for the cause. It is not too bad.”

Shaun Burgoyne

The four-time premiership champion dressed up as Spider-Man in a clever ode to his nickname, Silk.

Burgoyne was visibly shaken by how cold the water was.

“I’ve never seen a reaction like that. He is absolutely filthy that he put himself up for this. Not happy! Never seen a man that has icy veins so cold and disturbed!” Channel 7 commentator Brian Taylor said.

Fellow commentator Hamish McLachlan added, “BT, I’ve never seen a face so cold.”

The 407-game hero gave a measured response when he emerged from the water.

“Colder than I thought,” he said.

Tayla Harris

The AFLW premiership player and boxing champion went down as Matildas captain Sam Kerr.

“That’s why I avoid ice baths at all costs,” she said.

Aaron Finch

The former Australian cricket captain went down the slide as Captain Feathersword – a character made famous by the Wiggles.

“That’s as cold as I thought it was going to be,” he said.

Tony Shaw

The 1990 Collingwood premiership hero went down as Beetlejuice.

“He wears black and white, he’s devious, funny and loves to win, and that’s Collingwood people!” Shaw said of his costume.

After taking the plunge, Shaw revealed a special message he gave to Daniher.

“What an inspiration he’s been and a magnificent cause. I just whispered in his ear, I love him. That’s it,” he said.

Abbey Gelmi

The Channel 7 presenter went down as the Disney character, Maleficent.

Not wasting any time, the new mum flew down the slide.

“It’s cold in my soul but it’s worth it. It’s good. I’m fine,” she said.

Jason Dunstall

The Hawthorn champion and media personality took the plunge as Aquaman.

“You’ve got no idea how much ice and water this suit’s holding,” Dunstall said after emerging from the water.

“It is a legacy the likes of which I’ve never seen before, will never seen again. He continues the fight against a battle the rest of us have to make sure we win.”

Michelle Payne

The Melbourne Cup-winning jockey had her brother Stevie (Hulk) there for support and went down as Wonder Woman.

“Oh my god, feels like a 1000 needles, but all worth it,” she said.

“What an inspiration, so great to be a part of it.”

Eric Bana

The Hollywood superstar and Saints tragic went down as one of his favourite players, Carl Ditterich.

“I used to remember watching him on the wing as a kid. He is a scary fella. Hope he is watching today,” Bana said.

He also flirted with the idea of going down as Nick Riewoldt or his iconic character Poida from Australian comedy show Full Frontal.

“I was going to come as Poida but unfortunately he died in a crowd-surfing accident at a Motley Crue concert some years ago so I couldn’t revive him.

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A New Jersey woman now lives alone part of the year on a remote island in Maine that Stephen King called ‘a novel here, just waiting to be written.’

Singer, actress and entrepreneur, Jessica Simpson is the latest celebrity to move to Nashville – well, sort of.

Simpson will be calling Music City home for the summer, renting a home with her family while she gets back in touch with her musical roots.

“I’m not nervous at all, but if you were to ask me two years ago when I was talking about coming back to music, I was frightened,” she said in a recent interview with E! News. “But now, I know exactly what I want.”

Being a renter has been a “hilarious” situation for the “I Wanna Love You Forever” singer, she admitted.

She joked with E! News about putting up her $40 curtains with thumbtacks and assembling furniture with a butter knife.

She teased the possibility of filming a family-style show in Nashville. “A docuseries or a documentary – I don’t think they (her family) would mind being on camera,” she said.

Simpson follows other big names in entertainment who have recently moved to the Nashville area, including Justin Timberlake, Keb’ Mo’, Jack White and others.

Why trade Nashville for Los Angeles?

The star is much happier with the quieter, slower-paced Nashville lifestyle. “It’s because I’m not on guard. I’m with a lot of like-minded people,” Simpson said. “It’s not about the celebrities—it’s really about the music and the heart and the conversation.”

A common theme among so many Hollywood stars and their motives for relocating to Nashville.

“There’s a higher understanding of how these people make a living and people respect the way that they make a living,” said philanthropist and preservationist Aubrey Preston back in March. “They (Nashvillians) see a lot of these artists and people that do this as friends and neighbors and want to treat them how they want to be treated.”

Diana Leyva covers breaking and trending news for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on twitter at @_leyvadiana

Regigigas, one of the many Legendary Pokémon introduced in Generation IV, doesn’t need me to feel sorry for it. But the normal-type titan monster has been getting the short end of the stick thanks to its signature Ability Slow Start since it debuted in 2006, and I can’t help but pity the poor, giant rock man sleeping in the ancient ruins of Snowpoint Temple in the Sinnoh region.

Ever since Abilities were added to the mainline Pokémon games in Generation III, they’ve made individual monsters feel distinct beyond their stats and movesets. These passive traits can give you an edge in a battle—like Raichu’s Static, which paralyzes an enemy if they strike the electric mouse with a physical attack—or they can act as a built-in sabotage—like Slaking’s Truant, which prevents it from attacking every other turn. However, given Legendary Pokémon’s power within the universe, the biggest and baddest of these creatures usually have something that makes them a powerhouse to deal with. Well, except for Regigigas, who cannot catch a break.

Regigigas was introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl as the leader of Generation III’s Legendary Titans (two more were introduced in Generation VIII). As a god-like creator of these five already powerful Pokémon, it’s no surprise Regigigas is a powerhouse with a strong 160 base attack stat its most powerful asset, but between its respectable speed and defensive stats, it’s not just a glass cannon throwing powerful physical attacks. It’s got a diverse moveset so there are options to utilize its physical strength with a distinct elemental flavor of several other typings in the series. By all accounts, Regigigas should be a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately for it, Game Freak built in an inherent flaw that keeps it from reaching its full potential until much later in a fight.

Welcome to Exp. Share, Kotaku’s Pokémon column in which we dive deep to explore notable characters, urban legends, communities, and just plain weird quirks from throughout the Pokémon franchise.

Slow Start is Regigigas’ signature ability. It’s the only Pokémon cursed with it and it doesn’t have a hidden ability to replace it with. This affliction makes it so Regigigas’ attack and speed stats are halved for the first five turns it’s on the field. The game references the effect with text that reads “Regigigas can’t get it going!” during fights. If you’re fighting this big, sentient rock, that’s your cue to start wailing on it before it reaches full strength. In most Pokémon battles, it’s pretty easy to one-shot even the biggest, bulkiest foe if you strike with their elemental weakness. So if you’re well-prepared, you can take Regigias out before it can even hit back.

This scenario gets messier if you’re trying to catch it. Catching Legendary Pokémon is notoriously difficult because their catch rates are much higher than your average, run-of-the-mill wild Pokémon. So a lot of these encounters can become long, drawn-out fights, with you spamming Pokéballs until one finally works. If you’re trying to catch the big rock man, it could very well take more than five turns, so it will be back at its full power and can punch through your Pokémon, decimating them before you can snag it. It’s frustrating when out in the wild, but as far as its competitive viability, Regigigas gets such a slow start that it can often be hard or impossible to catch up by the time you can actually take advantage of its raw power.

The funniest thing is: Regigigas should have gotten a break from this delayed attack mechanic in Pokémon Legends: Arceus, as last year’s single-player-focused RPG did away with Abilities altogether. When you’re not balancing through a competitive lens, it makes sense that some mechanics would be scrapped in place of new systems, but Regigigas got no such reprieve, as Slow Start was repurposed into an exclusive status effect. Sure, it’s consistent in terms of lore, but also this poor titan has been going through it for so long, and now we know through Legends: Arceus’ historical setting that Regigigas has been suffering for centuries.

Honestly, more Legendary Pokémon need to be taken down a peg. Sure, they’re forces of nature or even gods, but each of them have a weakness, and more of them should be stupid and hilarious like Regigigas not being a morning person. Give me a Legendary Pokémon who misses every other attack because its eyes are still adjusting to the sunlight after slumbering for centuries.