Causing Offence

Causing offence is really easy today. Hell, it's highly probably causing offence right now (especially since I used the 'h' word, you know 'high'). People just need to toughen up (I said 'up', woops) sometimes because they are taking offence to everything. There are, of course, some things that are genuinely offensive and I can see how they get offended. Then there are the people who just go through sites like Facebook looking to be offended. Finally, there are just those people who get offended at everything and it is easier not to say anything so that people don't get offended.

First, the things that are clearly offensive. These are the posts, images and pages going around the internet that are clearly offensive and intended to cause offense. These can be anti-muslim (or any other religion, that was just the easiest term to put "anti-" in front of), sexist or any other offensive thing. Sometimes they are about religion or views but they can often be on interests (such as film, entertainment or games). These can be in the form of a direct attack (like "Harry Potter is crap and it's fans are stupid") or a subtle attack (like "The new union strikes are really stupid, like the boy with the lightning scar"). Sometimes these can offend a large number of people or it just offends a particular group (such as the Harry Potter Fandom).

Now there are the people that seem to go looking to be offended. These are the people who go on Facebook and look through pages that are going to offend them. So if they were a fan of Harry Potter they would go searching through anti-Harry Potter (I chose Harry Potter because it is the 11th most liked page on Facebook [as of January 2013] and shouldn't offend as many people as if I chose the KKK as an example) Pages and would then get really offended and be one of those people who comment on the post to share their anger at it. It is just a bit weird that people go looking to get offended and then complain because they are. It's just a little infuriating some times when you read these comments (besides the fact that they cause an interesting 'debate') and it just takes up some space in the comments section.

Finally there are those things that shouldn't offend anyone but somehow do. I saw a post that was literally "..." and then people in the comments section were having a giant debate about how offensive it was and I just kept scrolling before I lost my mind. Then there was a person who made a post about how the sky was a deep blue and then someone in the comments had a full-out argument saying something about someone dying and it being related to the colour blue (a person hadn't actually died and it was just an analogy, a stupid one). Again, sometimes I'm amazed I haven't lost my faith in humanity yet. I have learnt that some people are incredibly stupid and it just goes to show that even the most innocent of posts can be offensive in some way. Some people just seem to love being offended and sometimes it is just way too easy to cause offence. Some people just need to learn some resilience.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Reality Television

Reality Television, what is there to say? There is so much variety out there and, as always, there are many hits and many misses. Sometimes you see a reality television show and it's just like "Wow! This show is going somewhere" and everyone raves about it and it has a long run and retains its popularity. Then there are those shows that are good but viewers quickly lose interest because it gets repetitive. You also have those shows that just make you wish you could wipe your memory. These are the shows that are often quickly shifted off from a major channel to a minor one. Then there are the shows that are just 'there' and you don't really have an opinion of them but you wouldn't sit there and watch it every night.

The hits, the shows we just love to watch. They hook us in and we just find ourselves connecting with the people on the show. Or we just discover a love of heckling we never knew existed. Shows like this tend to stick around for a long time because viewers just love to come back for more. Survivor is a great example of this and millions of people tune in each year to watch all the challenges and the people and all the alliances and backstabbing and starvation. It is just one of those shows you can watch season after season without feeling it is getting repetitive. The Amazing Race is another example of this. All the challenges the pairs have to complete are always different and there are all the amazing landscapes and places that they visit and it really must do a lot for tourism.

There are also many shows that are good but get repetitive and the audience soon loses interest after a few seasons. These are the shows where at the start everyone loves it but a few seasons in the producers do everything they can to make the show seem new and more appealing because some shows you've seen once and that's all you need. A good example of this would probably be Masterchef Australia (the most successful Masterchef Franchise worldwide) which started off strongly and the producers were happy and then the viewers started tuning out and they brought out Junior Masterchef and Celebrity Masterchef. It just shows that good shows are those that don't become repetitive.

You then have those shows that people love to hate. Those shows that are built up to more than they could ever be. They start off on the main networks before being shunted off to a minor one when the ratings don't get to the level hoped. Excess Baggage from the Nine Network was an example of a show that was built up to be something it wasn't. It only took a few weeks before they moved it over to Go! where it spent its dying days with low ratings. Despite the 'famous' celebrities (I used quotation marks for a reason) taking part there wasn't anything really appealing about the show and if people wanted to see other people sweat-it-out to lose weight they would just watch The Biggest Loser.

Finally you have some shows that you just have to ask "Why?" They are the shows that you don't really have an opinion on but are just there. It's sort of like Federation Square. You don't really have an opinion on it but you can see why people don't like it. Celebrity Splash is a great example of this. I can't actually believe I am watching it right now. The worst part is I neither dislike it nor do I like it. It's just sort of there and something to watch. I'm just annoyed because it pushed Revenge back to 9:30 meaning I have to tape it because I have to go to bed at 10pm on school nights (so what, at least I get enough sleep). So Celebrity Splash, I can't see it coming back for a second season (if it ever finishes its first).

With Reality Television there are hits and misses and those somewhere in between. If they made The Hunger Games into a reality TV show I'd watch it (as long as I wasn't in it) and that would be a hit (with The Hunger Games fandom at least).

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Faith

Faith, it is what makes us hope for a brighter future. Faith is what makes people get out of bed every morning. Faith is believing in something even when you can't see it. Faith is believing in the good of something. It keeps us sane. Faith doesn't have to mean religion it can just be the belief in something that might happen (it could even be something bad). We all have faith within us it is just the person who decides whether to bring it out or not. When everything looks bleak, faith is what can pull us through.

Faith in a better tomorrow gives people the motivation to get out of bed or to exercise or help people out. Faith can help people who are sick, it can fill in the days for those who are lonely. Faith in a brighter future can pull people from the brink of despair and can change a person's life. Faith in a religion, in a god or in one another can change a person. It can make them see differently as if someone has given them new eyes or a new lease on life. Faith can change you, it can make you into someone entirely different. It can give you the confidence to stand up for what you believe in and do what you view as right and just. Faith is what causes people to persist and to keep fighting. Without it, what is there to fight for?

Things don't change without faith. Did Martin Luther King Junior have faith in the end of the Apartheid? Did Nelson Mandela have faith in an equal South Africa? Did NASA have faith in space travel? Of course they did, why else would they strive so hard and spend so much time on something? If you don't have faith in something happening then why do it? If Nelson Mandela couldn't envision an equal South Africa how could he expect anyone else to? Faith and action are closely linked and without Faith, action would be very limited and our world would be centuries behind what it is today. Steve Jobs may not have had Faith in Apple. Walt Disney may not have had Faith in Walt Disney Studios. Bill Gates may not have had Faith in Windows. If they hadn't we wouldn't have all the technology and entertainment around us today. Faith plays a big role in everything we do and without it we are lost.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Quirks

Quirks, we all have them. They are what separates us from the billions of others in the World. It is because of these quirks that a mother can tell between her two twins, or an owner from their identical dogs. Quirks are what separates us apart from those around us and what makes us who we are.

We all have quirks, some have more pronounced quirks while others have quirks you don't actually notice until they are pointed out to you. Sometimes we have quirks that we don't actually realise we have until someone comments on it. My family has all sorts of weird quirks which, at times, can make us hate each other or love each other. Sometimes even both, somehow. My mother, for instance, has a weird (and annoying) quirk of wanting to pay in exact change so she doesn't have so many coins while my Dad, on the other end of the spectrum, has so many coins that they're everywhere he has been. It's sort of like Hansel and Gretel with my Dad except instead of breadcrumbs, there's coins. I don't mean he drops coins when he goes into shopping centers but I mean, when he's at home and he's walking around he'll leave a pile on his bedside table, at the front door (on the bench, not the floor) or in my room (I'm not complaining, it's money in my room).

My brothers also have their own quirks. My middle brother, Joshua, gets hooked on TV shows and so when he gets hooked on one he will go out to the store and buy a season on DVD and then he'll finish that and go onto the next one. Or he'll re-watch a series we have at home and just spend weeks watching it. It really annoys my Mum because he's in Year 12 and doing VCE and he watches more TV than he does studying.  I mean, I do more studying than him and I am in Year 10 and only doing one VCE Unit 1/2 subject whereas his are all Unit 3/4 subjects because he is in Year 12. My eldest brother has his own quirk where he'll watch football (AFL, not that American crap) but he won't just watch it, he'll start screaming at the TV and you can understand what's going on down the other end of the house without having to turn the TV on. It gets really annoying though when you're trying to go to sleep. He can be a pain sometimes. I also have my quirks. One of them is the way I write in my books during class. Instead of facing the book Portrait like everyone else I turn my book sideways so it is landscape but I still write in portrait so instead of writing horizontally my arm is hooked around at a 90 degree angle and I write vertically up the page. I didn't actually realise this was a quirk until I got to high school and people were amazed at how I wrote. I say amazed because I couldn't think of a better word. I guess they were more confused rather than amazed.

So you see, we all have our quirks even if we don't realise it. Our quirks are part of what make up that 0.1% of DNA that is different to everybody else. The other 99.9% of our DNA is identical to the others around us but it is that 0.1% that makes all the difference, that makes up our skin colour, our eye colour, our personality and our quirks. So, however annoying our quirks may be we just have to remember that they are a part of us and without them the world be a worse place to be.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Scheduling

Hey guys, just a quick update to tell you all that I have discovered the wonders of scheduling posts on Blogger! Yay! This means that I won't have any excuse not to post on a certain day because I can write a post before hand and then schedule it to come out on the day I won't be able to post. Of course, this also means that you guys will know I have gotten lazy if a post does not appear. However, this may also be to some unexpected circumstance (i.e. Family Illness) that prevented me from posting on that day.

Is it bad that I wanted to write "Y'all" above? I've been watching too many Americans on YouTube, especially Ellen (Degeneres) she always says "Y'all". Anwyay, aside from the "Y'all"s I just wanted to say that I had discovered the wonders that scheduling brings. So, you may have realised if you "liked" my page on Facebook or are a friend of my personal Facebook account that a recent post about Google Plus which I scheduled to be released. Here is a photo below of what it looked like in my Posts section of my Blogger Acount for Daily Lukey, sorry for the bad quality, it's a screen snapshot using the Snipper Tool.

The only problem with scheduling is it uses a different Time Zone but it tells you what time it thinks it is currently so from there I work out the time and date I want it released. So yeah, now I can use the scheduling feature of the Blogger and there will be less days I will miss out on, yay!

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye!

Dumb Ways To Die

So today I just wanted to talk about the best Public Safety Message of all time, Dumb Ways to Die, by our very own Metro Melbourne! I know this is old news but I just wanted to share the results of the most shared  public safety announcement ever. If you don't know what it is click on the link on the words Dumb Ways to Die anywhere it is found in this post.

Dumb Ways to Die is a public service announcement for Metro Trains Melbourne to promote rail safety. It has become viral due to social media and video sharing. The campaign was devised by Melbourne Advertising Agency McCann. It appeared in Newspapers, Radio, outdoor advertising, on social media sites (such as Tumblr [that is spelt correctly] and Instagram) and throughout the Metro Trains system. It was estimated by McCann that within two weeks it had generated at least $50 million worth of global media value and had appeared in over 700 media stories around the World for a fraction of the cost of one TV ad. Metro had estimated it had resulted in a decrease of 30% in near-miss incidents on the Metro train network.


An animated music video for Dumb Ways to Die was uploaded to YouTube on the 14th November 2012 and was made Public two days later. It features a cast of interesting characters killing themselves in ways that get funnier over the course of the video. Three characters are killed by trains in the video and within 2 days it had received 2.1 million viewers and within two weeks it had reached over 28 million views. Currently it sits on just over 40 million views. It has spawned numerous covers and parodies and has been received well around the globe.

When Dumb Ways to Die was released on iTunes 50% of the cost of making the song was covered by iTunes downloads in just three weeks! Dumb Ways to Die SoundCloud free downloads (advertised by the campaign website) has reached over 155, 000 downloads! On iTunes the song reached top ten in many countries and the song was played for free on Radio due to its popularity. This song was also played on radio stations around the globe where Dumb Ways to Die was popular.

Dumb Ways to Die has become the most viewed Public Safety Announcement and remember, be safe around trains!

May the odds be ever in your favour around trains, see you tomorrow!

Google Plus

I have to come clean about something, I love to use Google Plus! I said it, come at me. I like to use Google Plus and I really like it! By the way, do you know if you type in Google with a lower case 'g' Google chrome spell-check says it is wrong. Just saying, I think there is some connection between Google and Google Chrome I just haven't worked it out yet. Maybe its the colour scheme...

Anyway, so I really like to use Google Plus and part of the reason behind that is that it isn't blocked by those annoying Internet blockers from school and work because it is Google! So that means we can socialise during class, after we've finished our work of course (I'm a good student), and the teacher has no idea what we are doing. It also helps because Google Plus has this thing called 'Hangouts' which is sort of like Skype in that you use your webcam to talk to other people through the internet. This helps because you can change it so that it shows what is on your screen which really helped us during Humanities recently when we were working as a group and we could just show each other what we had done rather than having to discuss it several times. It also helped when searching for data (plus if the teacher was helping one of the students we could follow along) because it was really hard to find what we were looking for. So I find Google Plus hangouts a great way to share work (and socialise outside of school) without having to download a program (such as Skype) and having to create some other account because we can just use our Google account. Did you know you can also create a live YouTube broadcast through Google Plus Hangouts?

I also like Google Plus because you can play games on it even though I don't use this feature that much. It's just good to know its there. There is also a chat option too (like on Facebook) which we use sometimes in school to share information we typed instead of dictating it and repeating each sentence five times. It's quicker to copy and paste. It really is a great site and I just can't see why others don't like it as much, at least it isn't like MySpace or something, it's Google. There are also other people that are on here (friends, celebrities, pages for shows and other stuff) and you can make pages like on Facebook and you can add pages and people into Circles (or groups) such as Friends, Art, School, Work, Family, Celebrities etcetera. So I like Google Plus and I am not afraid to say it.

Parent Teacher Interviews

So today was Parent Teacher Interviews at my school for students with surnames starting from A to M and next Wednesday (1st May) the other students (N-Z) have their interviews. That means we get two days off school (Hooray!) which is really good for us because this week we also have Thursday off for ANZAC day which means we only go to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday which means any homework we get that day can be done the next so we can relax. I still do the homework the night I get it though so I can relax the whole day and if something happens and I can't complete my homework (in case the TV turns itself on or  a DVD plays itself) I don't have to worry. Anyway, back to Parent Teacher Interviews.

So I get there early and so I go to my locker to get my books before going up to my first interview with my Science Teacher. When we get there we are still early which means we get to see the people before us go up and we notice how long she (the Science Teacher) talks for. I mean, she was talking for ages and always going overtime and we were lucky to get in just five minutes after our scheduled time but Mum was getting really worried even though I had left a five minute gap between each interview in case this happened. So when we got in to the interview Mum knew we only had five minutes until the next one so she was really asking questions that got to the point but it was all fine. My interviews are always good and the only problem the teacher had was that I had got a Very Good mark (somewhere above 75%) instead of an Excellent (somewhere above 80%) where the rest of my marks were. The science teacher being slow was actually a blessing because we got to the Maths teacher as she was finishing up with the previous student which was really good timing. The rest of the interviews went really well and were not as long as the Science teacher and they were all good [they never aren't ;) ]. My methods teacher was really quiet and it was funny because my Mum was doing a lot of the talking and when she asked "Is there anything Luke could improve on?" he just stared at his screen for a while and went "Uhmmm, no" and it was a little obvious that he wasn't a big fan of Parent Teacher Interviews. The other teachers were good and it was all good interviews (which I already said I think).

I really believe Parent Teacher Interviews are great because the parents/guardians get to hear straight from the teachers instead of a garbled version of what the student may tell them to make a bad mark seem better. I know some students who wait until the last minute to get their interviews so that they can't because of the teacher being booked out so they don't have to see them. So Parent Teacher Interviews, I really like them. Plus, I make all my interviews on the first day so I can see the teachers I (well, my Mum) wants to see at the times I want so I can leave enough space in between to prepare for teachers who talk too much (Science), talk too little (Maths Methods) or talk for the right amount of time (the rest). As long as its good reviews it can go for as long as they want.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye

Sacrifice

Sacrifice, it happens all the time and is a vital part of life. No, I do not mean a religious sacrifice (put the goat back), I mean a sacrifice that people make either for those around them or for themselves. A sacrifice is not something that can be done easily, it takes a toll, but is well worth it in the long run. We all make sacrifices at some point in our lives, they may be done willingly or we may have no say in the matter. However, they are necessary and we can do very little to avoid them.

We sacrifice a lot for those we love. Many sacrifices are made in family situations. Sometimes, an individuals ideals need to be put aside for the better of others. Everyday we make sacrifices for our family. There may be a show you really wanted to watch but since the majority want to watch something else you have to sacrifice that and maybe watch it online another time. So you would make this sacrifice of missing out on your favourite show because you are the only one who wants to watch it and you don't want to make everyone else in the family miss out because you believe what you want is more important (somebody please tell my brother this). Other sacrifices you might make is the movie you go see (you wouldn't take your younger siblings (under 12) to see The Exorcist or Saw [I haven't seen them, don't worry]) or maybe its your sibling's birthday and you decide to let them choose what to do instead of doing what you want to do and ruin their special day (again, somebody tell my Brother this). We make a lot of sacrifices for our families and for those we care about.

Our friends are also very important to us and we want to keep them. We make certain sacrifices along the way to ensure we still have friends and that our 'friends' don't secretly hate us behind our backs. We might sacrifice some of our time to spend with them and catch up. We might even sacrifice our break times to help them with their homework or something they are stuck on. We may even find that these sacrifices lead up to us enjoying ourselves more than if we had of done what we were planning to do. We may sacrifice our weekends to celebrate someone's birthday (a lot more fun than staying at home) and in the end we have such a great time that we don't realise what we are missing back home (in most cases, this is nothing). In fact, most of the time we don't actually realise the sacrifices we make because we have much more fun than if we had of done what we were planning.

There are many other sacrifices we make, many of which lead to better things. Some of these sacrifices are moral, some of them are unconscious. Most of them have a positive endings and you only get out what you put in.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Community

Community (No, I do not mean the popular TV show) is something most people classify as history, no longer a part of today's multicultural environment. I beg to differ and I believe that Community is still alive today and I have seen examples of this everywhere. By Community I am not referring to buildings or any physical. I am talking about the social links between people in an area.

Just recently I had the pleasure of seeing this, just yesterday in fact. As you may have read yesterday I went to Relay for Life and there were so many people united to raise money for the Cancer Council. There were just so many people and there was such a good vibe around that it wasn't hard to see the sense of community.

There were so many different teams there, and they were all happy to be there even though they could have been spending their weekend doing something else. There were Fire Brigades, School Groups, Paramedics, work groups and other community groups who all had busy tents and full teams. Then there was also all the teams who also sold raffle tickets, food, lollies (yeah, I know lollies are food) and those beads and necklaces and everybody was smiling and were talking to other teams like they had known each other for years. So there was a really vibrant sense of community at this event and like all other Relay for Life events that I had attended. I really enjoyed my time and that was partly due to the sense of community I felt at every part of the track, it really gives you hope for the world. NOTE: These photos are from Relay for Life 2012 and are from the Wyndham Relay for Life Facebook Page.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Relay for Life Reflection

So today, as you would have read yesterday, was Relay for Life. I'm not going to go into what Relay for Life is again so just click here to go to yesterday's post to read about it. So it started off at that temperature which is hot and cold at the same time. So I came wearing shorts, a CFA top and my CFA jacket to keep warm. Then, upon registering, you receive a Relay for Life T-shirt. Each year the T-shirt is a different colour and this year it was Purple which was cool since Purple is my favourite colour.

So the first lap of Relay for Life is for people with Cancer or who have previously had Cancer, they are called 'Survivors' and wear a purple sash throughout Relay for Life that has 'Survivor' written on it (not as in the TV-Show). They call this lap the "Survivors Lap". The second lap is when the people who look after, or who have looked after, a person with Cancer joins in. They are called the 'Carers' and this lap is called the "Carers Lap". The third lap is where everyone can join in and is called the "Family Lap" and so from here on in the Relay has started for everybody.

There is a team that is always there (I think they're called "Happy Feet") who sell these plastic necklaces (this year it was green) for $5 and then every lap they give you a bead (this year it was green for one lap, blue for every 5 laps, silver for 50 and gold for 100) for free which is cool and they would make a lot of money out of it because there are so many people participating in Relay for Life and almost everybody has one. This money is put towards the team fundraising total and is donated to the Cancer Council so it is not for profit. So here is a photo of me holding my necklace after my first three laps.

So I then continued for a few more laps until I got to this and had a break to get a drink. In this photo I was at 15 laps.

Then I just continued doing laps for a while and the time just slipped away until I got to around 30 (taking me 2 hours, 400 metres a lap and I was moving fast) where I started thinking about getting that little bit further and aiming for 50 laps. It took me a while and I finally reached 50 and my legs were killing me (walking non-stop for 4 hours can do that) but I pushed on and took this photo. I was very happy because I had reached my goal (the year before I had done 119 laps but I was there for the full 24 hours that time and I only reached 100 laps at 3am [yes, AM]). Here is a photo of my 50 beads, you can see the silver bead at the top.

So then I really had to have a rest because my legs were killing me and so I sat down for the first time for the whole Relay for Life and before we knew it I had to go home because my Dad had to drop my grandmother off on the way home. My middle brother is staying over night but I did it last year and unless I am doing it with my school it is not worth it. I mean last year I came home, had a shower and then fell asleep until dinner time (from 2pm to 7pm) and then I went back to bed and fell asleep and didn't wake up until 8am the next morning (I had no school) so you can see why I didn't want to do that again unless I could stay up and have fun with friends from school. So, all in all, Relay for Life was really fun (I say was even though it doesn't finish until 12pm tomorrow) and now I am relaxing and making this post. I ended up finishing on 52 laps before leaving (working out to just over 20.8km)

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye!

Relay for Life

So, as I mentioned in Yesterday's post, tomorrow I will be doing Relay for Life although I will not be doing the full 24 hours (as I did last year) but instead will be going on the Thursday and then coming home that night because my Dad has to work the next day and Mum won't be able to pick me and my eldest brother, who has his licence, is unreliable so it should be fun.

Relay For Life is a 24-hour relay where you go in teams of up to 10 and for 24 hours someone on your team must be on the track at all times carrying a baton for your team (this can be any item (appropriate!) that your team chooses). Each team raises money and all the funds raised (as well as registration costs) goes straight to  the Cancer Council. Last year I did it with my school and before that I had done it with the local CFA (Country Fire Authority). This year my school isn't participating because they didn't want to 'detract' from The World's Greatest Shave which was a big fundraiser at our school (well, we fundraised for it at our school). This year I will be competing with the Werribee CFA and it should be fun.

I will probably be able to blog tomorrow night because I won't be staying at the track for the full 24 hours but I might not be able to post tomorrow depending on the time I return. This is just a quick warning about the possibility of me missing tomorrow's post. So yeah, Relay for Life should be a lot of fun and I can't wait!

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

New Zealand Legalises Gay Marriage

New Zealand has became the 13th Country in the world, and the first country in the Asia-Pacific, to legalise same-sex marriage. The parliament voted 77 to 44 in favour of the Gay-Marriage bill and now same-sex couples can legally be married in New Zealand. This bill will also allow a same-sex couple to adopt and the couple will have their marriage recognised in other countries.

This is expected to put pressure on surrounding countries to follow in New Zealand's footsteps but Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister of Australia, has expressed her opposition to Marriage Equality and there is little federal movement in this area. So it looks like same-sex couples will be taking more trips to New Zealand to get married which will surely benefit their economy and tourism industry.

It is expected that this change will boost Tourism in New Zealand as well as the economy due to the new market opened up to spend money on Weddings. It was estimated that an extra $700 million dollars will be spent by same-sex couples on their weddings (in total, not individually) which will truly kick-start the New Zealand Economy. Many Australian Same-Sex Couples have also said that they would go on a trip to New Zealand to get married instead of waiting for a similar bill in Australia, which at the current rate could be a long way away. However, same-sex couples will have to wait around 4 months so that The Department of Internal Affairs (handling births, deaths and marriages) can be prepared for the surge of new paperwork.

I support Marriage Equality as I believe that Love is Love no matter who it is between and I believe some Same-Sex couples love each other more than some heterosexual couples and therefore deserve the right to marry who they want, where they want. So I think Australia should follow in New Zealand's footsteps and legalise Same-Sex Marriages.

The War on Homework is Over

So it's time for celebration because I have FINALLY caught up on all my homework! Hooray! So I have been doing homework since last Monday almost non-stop. Whenever I was home, I was nearly always doing homework. I would spend hours a day just working through my homework. Of course, the first week was mostly because of the Methods SAC which took a LONG time! So really, my mentality was keep working through all the homework so that when I finished I would then have as much time as I wanted to relax and catch up on all that I missed (I mean, the first week of the holidays I played 299 games of SongPop and the second week I only played 49) plus my Forest Escape in The Hunger Games Adventures was overgrown but I'm still waiting for the game to update to the next part so it just goes towards XP and stuff.

So when did I finish this homework? Well I only actually finished just over an hour ago and now I am catching up on the episodes of Glee I missed out on (only 2 though so not so many to catch up on) and writing this post between episodes. I can't wait until the weekend because it is Relay for Life (I'll be unable to post on Saturday by the way because of that) and also because there will be some more time to relax (once I finish any homework I get). I am just so happy right now because I am fully up to date and I am grateful that I persisted with my work because now I am reaping the rewards with stress-free relaxation. So my advice to you is get your homework and do it right away so that you can reap the rewards too.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye!

Kokoda Leadership Opportunity

So today I was called to the office at the end of the day along with a few other people. At first I was really worried because I wondered what I had done. Then the Vice Principal (who had called us there) started off by saying "The Wyndham Police have recently contacted us..." which really scared us all because we all thought we were in big trouble from the police. She then went on to continue to say they had offered each school the opportunity to allow students who display qualities of Leadership to apply to go on an all-expenses paid fully guided tour of the treacherous and historical Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea.

This would also teach us lessons of Leadership along the way. At first I was hesitant because I knew how hard and dangerous it was and they offer training and have medics with us the whole time to be safe. I then went home and talked it over with my parents and we decided that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and so I decided to apply for it. Now I have to fill out a form and then answer some questions about Leadership and the significance of the Kokoda Track and that I will do tomorrow, I started tonight but had so much homework I had to stop. So there is no certainty I will get chosen as they will look through each person's application and decide the students they wish to take with them. If I do get in I will be very excited and most likely motivated to do more training (or I will find it very very hard) as even those who train for ages find it a hard track and I do hope I get in as I think it will be one of those great experiences I'll take with me until I grow old.

It is such an exciting opportunity and I am so happy that the Vice-Principal and Principal chose me and a few others to apply for the opportunity. I am just in awe a bit.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye!

Homework, a great way to start the new term!

So it is only the second day back at school but there is so much due this week. Once I get through this week it is going to be better but there is so much stuff going on! Today, there is a Methods SAC due first period which took ages because it was the whole of chapter 5 which took a long time to do. Also due today is some Maths homework we got yesterday which means something to do at lunchtime today. Also, tomorrow we have a Science Media Analysis task due which also took a long time to complete! I still haven't finished it because I need some bad articles, luckily my friend found some in a bad newspaper (not the Herald Sun, it's Mx) so that will be good, also they are short so hopefully shouldn't take too long. So there is a hell of a lot of homework. Also, on top of this we have to memorise a french poem. Plus there is a Science Test on Thursday on Forces and Motion which should be fun! Also we have homework spread throughout so there is a lot of homework! Now to French and a new blog post will come out later tonight, as promised. The sooner it is over the better.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye!

Catching Fire and Clumsiness

So the official Teaser Trailer for Catching Fire was literally released just hours ago (well, 10 hours is still hours) and it is awesome! Click anywhere on this paragraph to watch it. It is really cool and I can't wait for more footage to come out. I love what Effie is wearing to President Snow's Banquet, it is just so Capitol Chic. I really love the trailer and cannot wait to see the movie. So go check it out!!

Also, I am sorry for not posting yesterday but those of you following me on Twitter would have seen I had technical issues and so was unable to post. You really should follow me on Twitter because I post a link to my blog post for every new one that comes out. Anyway, so because of these issues I missed out on yesterdays and I plan tomorrow to do two, one in the morning (which will show up as today) and then one at the normal time (probably a little earlier). That will make up for it I hope, feel better now Xavier?

Well, my family is very clumsy and what my dad did today epitomised this. While putting something out for my grandmother he comes back in and walks straight into the glass sliding door thinking it was open. It was like that robber who tried to escape but smashed through the window thinking it was the door. My dad does this a lot and so it was no rare occurrence but it was still hilarious, just thought you should know.

May the odds be ever in your favour, goodbye!

Daily Update

So today is just going to be a daily update. Whoa, contain your excitement please.

So today I started off with my Piano Lesson at 9:30 which would have been okay if my brother had not kept me up to past 3am the night before because he was on his phone and iPod doing what all boys do at night, watch anime. Plus he watched some House and he was just full of energy because he had had a Ribena drink he had bought from work (Woolworths). Just so you know, my brother always gets very energetic when he has one of those type of drinks, I think it is some preservative or something in it that increases his energy levels. It can be embarrassing at times.

Anyway, so back to Piano Lessons. I was a little worried at first because I hadn't practiced much over the holidays (by which I mean I practiced for 20 minutes before the lesson). So I got there and when I went in she was all like "Hey, how was your holidays?" and the rest. So then it came time to start practicing and she was like "Hey, I found a cool new song you might like to learn." I was secretly thinking "Yes, she won't know I didn't practice much!". It was even better when she started playing the song from YouTube as she was finding the music for it and it turned out to be Skyfall by Adele and I was so excited, not that I let it show. I love Adele's Skyfall and I really wanted to learn it and so I was really happy and so we practiced that the whole time and it was really a great lesson, I can't wait to learn more and to practice it.

When we got back I continued on with my homework while we waited for Dad to take Joshua (my middle brother) to work. When he got back we took Sandy for a walk into the main street which he loves because it is 45 minutes one way and he gets to see all the people around (I think he believes they are there for him) and he is a real chick magnet. Chicks of the senior ages who find him the cutest little dog around. While we were in town Mum spent some time looking for clothes for my cousins Confirmation (of which I am her sponsor, not money-wise but as a provider of Spiritual Guidance [she chose me]) and also got me a new pair of shoes because, as she put it, the soles 'were flapping about as if they were talking to you' [great metaphor Mum]. So that was fun and when we returned I spent some more time doing homework and then reading my friend Xavier's two blogs (Daily Xavier, Views on Current Affairs) and also went on Facebook to ask my friend some questions. Great resource Facebook, allowing us to communicate with each other for three over long distances via the internet. A great idea.

Then, as it is my eldest brother's birthday on the 15th April we went out with my Mum's family tonight to the Templestowe Hotel (in Templestowe) which is sort of a Buffet set up which is good and it was great fun to catch up with everyone (granted we had just seen them all on Thursday but anyway). So that was fun and Matthew (my eldest Brother) brought his Girlfriend with him and so on the way there we had a three-way (wait for the end of the sentence before making any presumptions) Mario Kart contest on our Nintendo DS consoles which passed the time. It was a close match with Matt's Girlfriend winning most of the time but towards the end I just kept beating her and eventually bet her entirely. I came first, so proud. Anyway  so now I am home writing this post before going to bed because unlike Xavier I don't stay up all night watching X-Files or Fringe. So that is all for today, probably one of the busier days these holidays. Last day of holidays tomorrow and then School on Monday which I am looking forward to (wait until the end of the sentence again) so I can catch up with friends and fix up any last-minute questions for stuff.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Oblivion Review

My Rating: 9/10

Synopsis (Click here for source): 
Tom Cruise starts in Oblivion, an original and groundbreaking cinematic event from the director of TRON: Legacy and the producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man's confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind.

Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs. Jack's mission is nearly complete.

Living in and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

My Review:
Oblivion is a huge success and is one of the best action/sci-fi movies out to-date. The action in the movie is not in your face and the suspense just keeps you glued to the screen waiting to see what happens. An exemplary writing skill is shown in this movie as you are left questioning right to the very end and the writers make you believe something at the start and then they show that everything is not quite as it seems. It is a cinematic success and the dystopian landscapes with constant hints to well-known Earth landmarks, such as the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge, add another layer to an already multi-faceted movie experience.

The acting of Tom Cruise (as Jack Harper), Morgan Freeman (as Malcolm Beech, one of the 'rebels'), Olga Kurylenko (as the stranger from Jack's past, a past he has no memory of) and Andrea Riseborough (as Victoria, Jack's partner [in work and bed]) is exceptional and adds yet another layer to the movie. The characters at the start seem entirely different to what they do at the end and this is partly due to the acting because no matter how good a script, if you don't have good actors playing the parts then the story is just unbelievable.

So that is another thing that provides this movie with some intrigue, it is believable. Despite the sci-fi aspect it is still a realistic futuristic Earth, ravaged by war of the greatest scale ever witnessed, that can be related to because of the use of famous landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge and they explain how the Earth got to how it did.

Overall it is a great movie which is why I gave it 9/10. I am not usually a fan of action movies but there isn't a lot of in-your-face action like Batman, or Iron Man, or any movie really where the last three letters are M-A-N. I really recommend this for teenagers and older (do not take your kids) and even my grandmother loved it and she doesn't like action movies, or sci-fi for that matter. So I urge you to watch this movie.

In other news: Today I had an award ceremony for the Fellowship of Australian Writers because I had submitted a selection of 10 writing pieces to a competition and my work got Highly-Commended (the one under Won) and there were only 4 people (out of hundreds) who actually got any recognition for their work. (1 person got Commended, 2 got Highly Commended and 1 won). Plus, this was an Australian-wide competition so it is really cool that I won.

Also, check out my friend Xavier's Awesome blogs! They are great because Xavier has just a natural sense of humour so you'll definitely enjoy them! Check them out here: Daily Xavier (wonder where the idea of that name came from [he made his after I showed him mine by the way]) and Xavier's Thoughts on Current Affairs

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Friends and Family

So we all know how important friends and family are but I don't think we actually realise how important they are in many factors of our lives. They help us in many ways, and we need both friends and family because there are some things you would only confide in friends rather than family and vice versa. They create a stable support network that we need to be our best.

Our friends are important to us as they give us a respite from the monotonous life of home. They provide us with a connection to the outside world and an understanding of how others act and react. They are our life line to a world outside our own where people live different lives. They are also fun to muck around with and just enjoy life with. There are things you do with friends which you would not even think of doing with family. I mean, who talks about daily life with family? Who talks to their family about the latest gossip around school or even school work itself? There are also things you talk to friends about, like troubles you are having, that may not seem appropriate to discuss with family, such as feelings and crushes and other usual stuff going through a post-pubescent teenager. Even older people have friends to turn to with stories of relationships and friendships that are inappropriate to divulge to parents who may not see the funny side. Therefore friends are very important in the wellbeing of individuals.

Our friends are important to our wellbeing but so is family. Family is there for you when you need them and will support you in your endeavours and have been there for you since birth. They mould you into the adult you will become and, as I have said in a previous post, irresponsible parents lead to irresponsible children and the opposite can also be said. Responsible parents heighten the chance of them producing a responsible child as they have been brought up learning from example. They have also been taught about consequences and the results of their actions. They are also important to us as they are the ones who put up with all of our annoying habits and at the end of the day still love us. Plus they listen to our problems and help us resolve them. They are always there when we need them and though we don't like admitting it, we love them. Plus, our older siblings make mistakes before us so we know not to make them. SCORE for the younger siblings!

So in the end it is clear that Family and Friends is very important to us. Also, I want to apologise because I know it is technically the 12th of April (even though blogger will say it is still the 11th) but I started writing this on the 11th so there will be another post tonight for the 12th April.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!

Innovation and The Croods

So today I went to Highpoint Shopping Centre to go see The Croods with my Mum. I don't care that it is a Kids movie, we wanted to see it. So the first thing I wanted to talk about was the new innovative Parking spaces at Highpoint, in the new car park near the entrance closest to Hoyts Cinemas. It is cool because there are sensors above each car spot so they can tell if there is a car in there or not. This is good as there are signs at the end of each row that say how many available car spaces there are in that row and there are also signs showing how many available car spaces there are on each level. This is great as it saves time going up and down each aisle looking for a car space. There are also little lights above each car space which are green (If available) or red (If full) so you can see immediately down the aisle which of the spaces are free. I loved it because it saved my Mum stressing about finding a car space (yeah, my Mum gets really angry when she stresses and you better not be in her firing line) and it cut down a lot of the searching time. On the other side it also means that they know as soon as you stay over the parking limit. I saw one car who had their tyres clamped and it would have been interesting to see when the person saw what happened to their car. Here is a photo of what the signs look like (not taken by me).

Now, to the movie. The Croods is actually a really funny movie with a great story line  It isn't like one of those token kids movies with a weak story line and horrible animations. I'm just saying that Adventures in Zambezia seems like a movie I wouldn't want to see even if I was 5 years old. Anyway, The Croods is about a family of Cavemen who live by the rule that anything new is bad and curiosity kills and when the cave they live in gets destroyed they go on a journey, guided by Guy (his name) and his Belt (some sort of animal with a sense of humour and timing), to get to safety as the World is ending (cue dramatic sounds). Along the way they form closer bonds and discover many new things (such as fire, a snapshot and pets). It is very funny and I really enjoyed it and the good thing was that there were many different age groups in the cinemas and everyone was laughing and came out with a smile. Plus, we watched it in 2D so it can only be better in 3D. So I really recommend this movie and you really should see it.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow.

Irresponsible Parents and Annoying Children

So there are many irresponsible parents out there who have exceedingly annoying children because they don't take care of their children and don't care what they do or because they have no control. Needless to say these kids become little terrors and take little care of those around them. We all have had at least one experience with kids like these where the parents couldn't care any less.

One such incident occurred to me once in a Library where I was having a Maths Methods tutor session and there was this group of kids (who couldn't have been older than 7) who were just running around making a lot of noise. They were playing hide and seek in the LIBRARY! Where were their parents? Who knows, in the end one of the Library Staff told them to stop or they would have to leave with their parents. Did the kids care? Of course not, why should they? They can do what they want because they're having fun and be damned with everyone else. In the end the Library Staff called security (I was surprised, I mean, who has security in a Library?) and they found the parents and escorted them all out, hooray! Finally I could study for the SAC. I felt like clapping.

Another incident that occurs quite often is annoying, loud, children at the movies who spoil such a great work. I mean, I was watching Johnny English: Reborn (I know, very sophisticated) and these kids started screaming because their drink didn't have enough ice (First World Problems) and their parents didn't buy them any popcorn. I felt sorry for the mother who was there because she was getting some deadly stares. If looks could kill. Eventually someone complained and a steward (or whatever they call them) came and escorted them out of the cinema, this actually got a clap. This is annoying and happens so often.

So I guess there are some really annoying children out there with parents who try to maintain control but cannot. Then there are the parents, as in the Library incident, who couldn't care less about what their children do. There are many other places where children throw tantrums all the time with either parents who don't care or parents who have no control. If you want you could share your stories below.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow.