Wow! We here at Westnet Newsletter-land were impressed (and overwhelmed!) by the response to our request for turns-of-phrase, grammatical errors or mispronunciations which irritate you. Here are some of the ones which seemed to be popular with a great deal of you:

• Youse (instead of you all or similar),
• Austraya (Australia),
• Haitch ( to pronounce the letter h),
• Oh (when referring to the number/digit – it should be zero),
• The apparently interchangeable use of the word ‘then’ with ‘than’ (‘ My house is bigger then yours’ ?!),
• ‘Could of’ or ‘would of’ (should be should have or would have)
• Overuse of ‘awesome’ and ‘like’.

And so, so many more!

There are two movie competitions this month; passes to see the action film Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3 as well as the chance to see the wonderfully romantic The Young Victoria.

Way back in May this year (it feels like an eon ago, doesn’t it?) we let you know of our new relationship with the magical children’s charity, the Starlight Foundation.

Westnet was fortunate enough to be in a position to deliver a wonderful gift to the Foundation this April – the Starlight Express Van.

The Starlight Express Van takes the magic of Captain Starlight on the road to hospitals in regional areas which have limited or no entertainment for children. Starlight’s unique team of Captain Starlight’s are trained professionals skilled in delivering ‘positive distraction’ entertainment to seriously or chronically ill children and young people. To these kids, Captain Starlight is a magical superhero who brings a massive ray of sunshine to their lives, helping them forget, even if just for a moment, their pain.

The Captain Starlight crew will regularly be updating us with their tales of trips around Western Australia delivering good times to the kids and in turn, we’ll be sharing those stories with you! Here’s one from a recent trip to Geraldton Regional Hospital.

We arrived at the hospital in the morning and were asked to attend to a little boy who was in the emergency ward. The nurse said that Brady had just come back from a procedure and it was causing him to be sick every 5 minutes. She also told us that Brady had been crying and  it would be difficult to cheer him up. As we entered his room, we saw a young boy, with puffy eyes, looking very uncomfortable. Brady looked up at us in our outlandish Captain uniforms and wondered who they were.

It didn’t take long for us to engage Brady in some quizzes and magic and when we presented him with a prize, a model aeroplane, he brightened up a lot and seemed to completely forget about his illness. We stayed with him for over an hour and every time he was sick he would say “oh wait a minute Captains” then join back in the games. He wasn’t even fazed. His mum called us over as we were leaving and thanked us for our time. She told us that she hadn’t seen Brady that happy in a very long time.

With Westnet’s support, Starlight is able to reach more sick kids like Brady at a time when they need it most. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to sharing more of the exciting travels of the Starlight Express Van very soon.

FOX SPORTS coverage of the 2009 ABSA Currie Cup season is an online service available to Westnet members on an eligible broadband plan.

All matches are part of the Westnet Freezone and are quote-free, meaning they won’t count towards your monthly limit.

You can catch a selection of regular season matches (up to four On Demand matches available each round). Some games will be shown on the Freezone only eight hours after the final whistle. You’ll even be able to watch the semi-finals and final On Demand!

Check out the Freezone now right here – you’ll also find out if you’re on an eligible Westnet broadband plan.

In the last few editions of the Westnet Newsletter, we’ve been teasing your tastebuds with the very tasty ‘WIN a $5,000 Bankwest Account’ promotion.

Any new or existing member who signed up to a new Westnet product went into the running to walk over the finish line with $5,000 in a Bankwest account.

Congratulations to our super-lucky winner, Samantha of Piara Waters in WA. On hearing the news, Samantha was (understandably!) thrilled:

“We would just like to say thank you to everyone there and that to some, $5,000 might not seem like a lot but to us it’s a fortune and we are fortunate to have won. Thank you again.”

In last month’s newsletter we introduced you to digital TV, which will be the only way we will be able to watch tellie from 2013.

On a more timely note, commercial radio services switched to digital radio in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide in  May this year, and on 21 July in Sydney.

Ummm…what is digital radio?

The experts claim it’s a new and exciting way for listeners to tune into their favourite radio stations. Offering an exceptionally high sound and signal quality, digital radio offers a range of exciting features to enhance the listening experience:

• clearer sound,
• improved reception,
• extra channels,
• pause and rewind radio,
• downloadable music,
• Electronic Program Guides,
• up-to-the-second news updates.

What will you need?

Like digital television, you will need specific equipment to enjoy  digital radio…but the good news is once you’ve got the equipment – that’s it; you’re in. Beyond that there are no sign-up costs, no subscription fees – all you have to do is tune in.

A digital receiver or a device with a DAB+ chip in it is all you’ll need. You can pick up a digital radio from under $150, like this Bush Kitchen Radio. Most, if not all, digital radios will have the capacity to receive FM services, but it’d be best to check their capacity for AM services on it’s specifications sheet. If you’re looking for a stockist in an area near you, check out this page.

Will you be able to receive digital radio?

Type your postcode into the search function on this page.

What will happen to AM and FM radio?

There are no plans to switch off AM and FM radio services (yet). Each Aussie home has an estimated five radio devices, so it’s going to take time for each home to upgrade.

Have you been using digital radio? Tell us what you think…

It’s June 26 in Petaluma California – for those of you not familiar with the area, that’s summer in Sonoma = a recipe for a perfect day out in the wine and festival heartlands of the Unites States.

Thousands are gathered for the 2009 Ugly Dog Competition at the Sonoma-Marin Fair. The crowd is chanting, “Pabst, Pabst!” as the celebrity judges (including John Provost from Lassie) deliberate; should they choose:

Pabst – the rescued mix-breed Boxer whose underbite is his most compelling (and strangely adorable) feature, or

Rascal – a former world champion Chinese Crested (a breed who has dominated the competition for over seven years)?

Pabst’s sweet personality has won the crowd over and the judges soon follow. His beer-bitter face helps him sweep all three categories: Mutt, Runoff with a pedigree and, of course, World’s Ugliest Dog.

Now, if you ask us, we think Rascal was uglier in the more traditional terms but we can see why Pabst won the crowd over!

Check out the photos of the day right here.

The special offers don’t stop once you become a Westnet member; in fact, they come through thick and fast! For updates and full details on great pressies like unmetered content through Westnet Freezone and RSVP, simply hit up this page!

Westnet and  Colombia Pictures are giving members the chance to win one of 30 in-season double passes to see The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, a white knuckle thriller starring Hollywood superstars John Travolta, Denzel Washington and Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini, only at the movies from 3 September 2009.

35 years after the original film starring Walter Matthau hit our screens comes this remake, sure to be THE movie to see in 2009.

In The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Denzel Washington stars as New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train on the 1 2 3 line.

John Travolta is Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a heavily-armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train’s passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages.

But there’s one riddle Garber can’t solve: even if the thieves get their money, how will they escape?

For your chance to win one of 30 in-season double passes to The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, simply make sure you click the Enter button in the Westnet Newsletter in your inbox. Entries are limited to one per Westnet username. The competition closes at 12.01am (WST) on Monday 31 August 2009.