Stubborn Sandy

So I realise that this blog is doing a lot of discussion around Sandy. In that respect you could say that Sandy is a "Daily Lukey Star". Getting past that horrible title and introduction lets move on to the new 'topic' for 'discussion' today. So Sandy definitely has his moments and the poor dog is quite the source of inspiration. I swear, each time I take him for a walk (so basically every day) I find at least three points of inspiration for my post. However, I tend to save these posts for a rainy day. For instance, the day I write this post is Saturday yet it is scheduled for release tomorrow (Sunday to those of you reading this). As it is Fathers Day in Australia today (Sunday 1st September for those of you reading this post days after it was posted) I did not want to worry about writing a post. Okay, enough of that crap. The truth is I started writing this post for Saturday but forgot that I had my political party series that night. Since I had already given it a break on Thursday I could not do it again so here we are right now. Then the truth is that I published it with the stupid schedule thing not working so it came out today instead of tomorrow. Now you know the truth so let's move on. Politics coming out tomorrow.

Source: http://www.123rf.com/photo_575089_boy-walking-dog.html

So today I discovered another point of inspiration from Sandy. Actually you could say I rediscovered it as he has done it many times before. The thing about Sandy is that at times he can be a bit lazy. Sometimes he gets two walks a day (these are both full hour walks mind you) when Mum and I take him at different times and within a few days he just does not want to go for another walk. Sandy is one of the only dogs that I know that does this. He is so stubborn too that you can not drag him along as he sits his bum down or stands tall and does not move. He also gives you a face full of concentration when you try to pull him. As soon as you  let go however his face becomes very happy as he thinks he has won. Usually he does this as we are about to leave our front step at home. However, today he decided he would make me look like an idiot when we were crossing the road. We get to the corner and he sits like we always do. I praised him and then I started to move across the road. I put the 'I' in bold on purpose. Sandy made me look like an idiot by not moving and just sitting there. I thought at first he was just been cautious as there was a car coming even though it was a long way away. However, after five minutes of me struggling to cross the road I discovered it was just Sandy being stubborn. At one point I was holding it with two hands and it was only when I used my whole body to try and move Sandy that he, begrudgingly, began moving. I thought that would be all but no, a few stops down he does it again. It was obvious he just wanted to go home though because if you went in any direction he recognised as the way home he would move again. It was really annoying and incredibly embarrassing. Sandy is one stubborn dog.

A walk a day keeps the dog at bay (unless they are full of energy), see you tomorrow!

Lost

When I say lost I am not discussing the 'popular' television show and instead I am talking about the adjective used to describe an action. This action is often embarrassing and generally annoying. If you have ever lost something, which I am sure you have, then you will know what I mean. It can be very annoying to not have something that you spend ages trying to find. There is so much in our world that we can lose and these can range from our belongings to other things like feelings and other items. No matter what it is that we lose we generally feel something for it. I know in the numerous (and I mean numerous) times that I have lost things that I have always felt really worried, even if it is for a short time. However, nothing can compare (well at the time at least) to the feeling of relief you experience when you find the item you lost. It's magic.

Source: http://www.win-back.info/how-to-win-back-your-girlfriend.html

Losing something can turn your good day into something of a nightmare. It can turn the brightest day dull and... Yeah, I am going to stop as I am going off on a crappy metaphorical rampage here. Basically losing something sucks. It sucks so much that you just want to disappear into nothing. I have lost my phone on numerous occasions. Granted these were generally for short periods of time but even for those short periods of time I felt a worry so deep that it manifested into some physical pit in my stomach threatening to... yeah, I really need to stop doing that because it happens too much. Back on the topic, while I search like hell for this I become very religious. At no other point in time am I as religious as when I have lost something. I pray and pray and pray to saint Anthony that I will find what it is I am looking for. Why do I pray to saint Anthony? Well that is because if you lose something you pray to Saint Anthony and you eventually find it. It has worked sometimes for me but I swear he must get so sick of me. Plus, the only time I really get heavily religious is when I lose something so in that respect it is a positive. Anyway, I have to go now because I keep losing track of where I am at.

Don't lose yourself in this blog though I give you permission to do so, see you tomorrow!

No Politics Today

So today I decided I would give you all a break from the 'boring' world of politics as it is often referred to as being. Of course, as I may have demonstrated through some of the political parties Australia has to offer, this is not true for all of politics. Such an assumption would be absurd and tantamount to stereotyping. Actually, it is stereotyping. Not all Politics is boring obviously political parties like the Australian Sex Party and the Coke and Bubblers Party contradict this statement. Also, have you seen parliament? It is like a court-room drama with one side fighting against the other and constant bickering. You may have realised that today's post is only a short one and that is, of course, because Thursday nights are a bit of a busy time for me and sometimes I am able to pre-write long posts and times where I have tests and essays coming up I do not have time to do all this. You guys are actually pretty lucky I still manage to reach my daily post quota at times. So yeah, I thought I would give you all a break from Politics today (see that 'smooth' transition back on topic) and so the series will continue in two days and I am pretty sure we are already past half-way through the parties so there should really only be two or three more. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your week, it's Friday tomorrow!

Can't wait for Friday, see you tomorrow!

Spring is Coming

Can you believe it? Already we are in the seventh week of Term 3 and almost into September! It's crazy. Sometimes time does fly and then at other times you just wish it would hurry up. With the change in month comes a change in season as well. The best part is we can already see it coming as the weather is definitely changing. However, since it is Melbourne where we have four seasons in the one day this could just be the weather playing tricks on us. However, I like to think otherwise.

Source: 

http://www.lifespringclinics.ca/2013/04/05/health-on-earth-spring-2013-specials-something-for-everyone/

The days are getting longer and the temperature is rising. Just a few days ago I was trying to protect myself from the bitter cold. However, today and yesterday were days where I could go outside and say to myself how warm it was. Of course, it was not Australian Summer warm but it was nice enough that it was quite comfortable to walk around in shorts, a shirt and a jumper. Even the jumper was unnecessary. I know have previously stated in two other posts that I like rain. However true this may be I also like beautiful spring days and even hot summer ones are alright with me. I just like the freedom you have to do things outside. Plus, it is a whole lot more enjoyable to walk the dog on good days like this. It is also pretty easy to motivate yourself to do this because you just want to be outside. As this blog continues you are probably going to eventually hear me say that I like just about everything. So far I have covered rain, heat and warmth. Next will probably the cold whenever that comes around again and so on. So do not think I am an up-and-down person with my interests. Rather think of it as someone who likes a variety of things for that is who I am. For now though it is time for me to go and enjoy the rest of this wonderful night. Wow, that is such a cliche. I am probably just going to end up watching YouTube videos or going on Facebook. Who am I kidding, of course I am going to do those things.

Gotta love the change in weather, see you tomorrow!

Party Crazy

This post will continue on from my series on the numerous political parties in Australia. Click here to check out Part 1 and here to check out Part 2. I have gone through 24 parties so far and am still not halfway through. By the end of the next twelve today I will be though. The following list is from the Australian Electoral Commission Website which has the complete list accurate as of the ninth of August 2013 when it was last updated. Here is the link:

http://www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/party_registration/Registered_parties/. 

Let's get started straight away.

Source: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/careless-political-words/

Country Liberals is a Northern Territory Political Party affiliated with both the National and Liberal Parties of Australia and contests seats for the coalition in the Northern Territory rather than the National or Liberal Parties.

The Democratic Labor Party aims to stand for workers, fair trade, manufacturing, small businesses and families.

The Drug Law Reform Party exists to raise awareness of the ongoing harm being done to children, families, democratic institutions and society in general by current drug laws.

Family First Party is another of the more outspoken political parties and stands for strong families, strong values and a strong Australia.

The Future Party is one aimed at finding long-term solutions to problems through technology.

The Help End Marijuana Prohibition Party aims to re-legalise and regulate cannabis for personal, medical and industrial use in Australia. If you could not get that from the name then you should have paid more attention in class.

Source: http://www.virginvoters.com.au/parties/future-party/

Katter's Australian Party was one that received some negative attention from the media earlier this year due to their controversial views. Their ideology includes social conservatism, protectionism, developmentalism and Keynesianism.

The Liberal Democratic Party stands for "greater freedom, smaller government and personal responsibility".

The Liberal Party of Australia, alongside the Labor Party, is one of the most predominant parties in Australia. They stand for inalienable rights and freedoms for all peoples (although they do not stand for same-sex marriage, kind of a contradiction there) and it also believes in governments minimising interference in everyday life while also nurturing and encouraging citizens through incentives, rather than limits.

The National Party of Australia traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally.

The Nick Xenophon Group comprises of the independent member of senate Nick Xenophon who aims to stand for people who feel they have no voice in the Government. His website does not provide much useful information. However flashy it may be.

Finally, the No Carbon Tax Climate Sceptics is one of the more left-wing parties representing climate sceptics every. They aim to "... expose the fallacy of anthropogenic climate change". Anthropogenic basically means originating from human activity.

That is it for today, check back in two days for the next installment.

Still more to come, see you tomorrow!

The Melbourne Writers Festival

So today I had a glorious excursion into the city and particularly federation square. Why was it glorious you ask? Aside from the fact I had no classes that day and the weather was near-prefect it was really interesting to get a writer's perspective on how they approach their reading and their writing. Today I attended three sessions. The first was with Morris Gleitzman and two other authors but I cannot remember what the actual topic was other than them reminiscing about their reading techniques. The second session was with two bookdesigners who design the cover for books. It was basically a look at how they approach it and would be interesting for someone looking to work in this area. I therefore did not enjoy it as much. The final session was three people, two of which were authors, recommending books for us to read. It was interesting and I already have a few books that I will be looking out for. It finished with the announcement of the short-listed books for the 'Inkies' which is a literary award chosen by teenagers for teenagers and this was also interesting. The sessions I went to last year were focused more on the authors and their writing processes. For this reason I enjoyed myself more last year but still had a blast this year.
You should really check it out, see you tomorrow.

Still more Parties

Yeah, I am still in disbelief at the amount of political parties in Australia but I guess there are a lot of people who have a lot of different opinions to express. You may remember from the first part of this post that was published on Friday that there are fifty-four political parties in total. Some of them are your average parties while others are just a little bit "out-there". Some have some pretty good policies while others do not seem to have many plans in place. I went through twelve on Friday and another twelve today so let us continue our journey through Australian Political Parties.

Source: http://radioadelaidebreakfast.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/topsy-turvy-world-of-australian-politics/

The following list is from the Australian Electoral Commission Website which has the complete list accurate as of the ninth of August 2013 when it was last updated. Here is the link: http://www.aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/party_registration/Registered_parties/

We will begin with the Australian Sovereignty Party which believes that Australia should be "a united, democratic and sovereign nation - standing on a firm foundation of truth, freedom and justice for all". Then they go on to say that they are more than the over parties for what they are known for (I am not going to list everything they say).

The Australian Sports Party believes in "Healthy Living Through Sport". They focus on helping Australian live a "healthy well balanced lifestyle through sport and recreation, which provides enjoyment and creates strong communities".

The Australian Stable Population Party stands for a more stable population such that they do not want to have forty-million people living in Australia by 2050 and instead aim for twenty-six million in a bid to relieve many overstretched areas as well as reduce the cost of living and to promote education and training.

Australian Voice Party stands for a "free, open and fair society ... the principles of democracy" and believe they can fix all the problems that current politicians "seem incapable of solving" such as the health system, rising living costs, crime, small businesses, immigrants and food security.

The Bank Reform Party wants "strong banks for Australia, fair banks for all Australians" and want more control over the banks and their rising interest rates.

Building Australia Party supports "Housing Affordability, Sustainable Development, Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape, Protecting the Building Industry [and] Better Health Infrastructure".

Source: http://www.virginvoters.com.au/parties/building-australia-party/

The Bullet Train for Australia Party is a self-explanatory party that stands for the introduction of high-speed rail as a faster and environmentally friendly solution to congested highways among other things.

The Carers Alliance Party emphasises support for carers and people with disabilities.

Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group) exists to support Christian representation in every level of Government such as Federal, State and Local.

The Citizens Electoral Council of Australia Party is a minor, left-wing political party affiliated with the LaRouche movement to fight for Peace through Economic development. It is a widely criticised party.

The Coke in the Bubblers Party is another one of those surprising parties you would not expect to be in politics. I could not access their website and could not find any other information about them.

Finally, the Country Alliance Party is a minor political part in Victoria with an almost contradictory focus on "anti-green but pro-environment" policies.

So you can see that Australia has some very interesting politics if you just dig a little deeper or run a Google search like I did. See you back in two days for the continuation!

So many parties but so little choices, see you tomorrow!