Another Late Night Another Short Post

So it is that time again. Yes, for no discernable reason other than my own, another late post has come to pass. It seems that I am starting posts like this all too often. For this I am sorry but everyone has busy days and today was one of mine. There are many reasons why posts come out late. The main reason being CFA with training going until late. Homework is another big issue which is unfortunate but unavoidable. If it piles up then it still has to be done. Other reasons included illness, parties and unforeseen events such as procrastination.

I really am very sorry for these late posts, see you tomorrow!

Great Discoveries

We may not realise it but we are all pioneers in our own lives. Everyday we make life-changing discoveries. These can come from the discovery that things have to actually go in the bin for them to be disposed or that money does not grow on trees. Sometimes these discoveries can change the course of our lives forever or, like in my case, they can be easily forgotten. The old adage "those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it" is entirely true in my case as I discover something, then I forget and discover it again the next day or week or month or year or decade or... well you get the idea. Today I made a number of these discoveries yet I know that in a few days I will forget all about it and then rediscover it later down the track.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/axis-experience/3187217030/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Before we continue if anyone could please tell me what the above picture has to do with discovery. I have absolutely no idea so I thought I should include it unless anyone else worked it out. Anyway, so today was a big day of discoveries for me! It began in the morning with the discovery that ABC iView, basically catch-up television for ABC online, had a lot of new and old Doctor Who episodes which were being uploaded in the lead up to the 50th Anniversary in November of this year (so many great things going on with The Hunger Games Catching Fire coming out then too). It was a great discovery to see this as I scrolled through my Facebook news feed this morning (yeah, I am on Social Media a lot). I then walked the dog after watching The Waters of Mars with David Tennant as The Doctor. I decided we would go somewhere a little different today so I took Sandy (there he is again) past an estate that went near the Werribee River. By the time we got there though it was already thirty minutes into our walk as Sandy was being distracted by everything on the way but we did do some exploring and I found a nice little private pier that was fenced off (but pedestrian accessible through a gate) which would be nice with more water and the day was nice but we continued on after a brief exploration. We discovered some wonderful plains of grass right beside the river and just hidden from homes so it seemed like you were in the middle of nowhere. It really was paradise on such a beautiful day as today and so I am determined to go back there with Sandy (hopefully we will get there a bit quicker now I know the quickest route) and do some more exploring because he loved it and by them time we got back he was tired (for once). There were also a number of minor discoveries today I will not mention in an effort not to bore you more than you already are.

Discoveries are discoveries no matter who makes them and what they are about, they are all just as important. See you tomorrow!

My News Feed

So I have said many times about how Facebook can cause me to lose some faith in the future of humanity, especially when it comes to scrolling through my news feed. I was on it just before and realised that it is not always like this and so I decided that for today's post I would go through my news feed as of 9:08 pm and talk about what I find. Of course, I am not going through everything on my news feed (are you crazy?) but I am going through it all until I find it enough. So sit back (or whatever works for you) and do not fall asleep.

Source: http://fbppc.com/news-updates/6-takeaways-from-facebooks-news-feed-update/

Let's start right from the top with a person posting about how people should realise how funny she is. This is followed by those annoying advertisements saying "(Insert Name) and (insert number) other friends like (insert page)". Next it comes to one of my friends commenting on another friend's picture of the Google game thing they had on yesterday. I never actually played it but it looks pretty fun. No idea what it is though. I think they were celebrating some milestone for something but, anyway, moving on. Then we have another friend commenting on a friend's post on the original person's wall about some Anime ending today (my friends would know exactly who I am talking about by now). Then there is a picture from Minute to Win It's Facebook page which I am seriously regretting liking. Yep, I just unliked it. Next is a post from a Pop news site about Rihanna revealing too much about her sex life. This is followed by a hilarious vine as promoted by the Facebook page Best Vines. Then we have someone changing his profile picture for about the umpteenth time this week (seriously) and it looks just like the one he had a few weeks ago. I know, I can not believe I remember either. Then there are a few posts about Hawthorne winning the AFL Grand Final today (congratulations guys) which is followed by a picture which seems to be from some Anime which one of my friends posted today (not the one I mentioned before). Then comes a post about his lack of motivation (this is another person from the anime picture) followed by a picture about how people see school by popular Facebook Page and Application; Report Card. Now there is another Pop News (same Pop News Page [PopCrush]) about Justin Bieber's new tattoo which they have a picture of apparently. Then we come back to another post about the Google game yesterday. This brings us to a post by Big Brother Australia about a meetup at Dreamworld to meet the latest evictee. Then there are some pictures from a girl who went to some kind of concert for someone called Eason Chan. Followed by a post about the upcoming season of Walking Dead and a photo from a different friend who must have gone out and about. Finally we see a post by a Doctor Who Fan page (this one called The Doctor Who Hub) which is followed by another post about the Hawks winning the AFL Grand Final today. Finally on my news feed we have a post by King Kong Live on Stage about the winner of the Grand Final which they apparently supported. There was a cool photo in the Herald Sun with Kong wearing a giant (obviously) hawks shirt with two players doing a "specky" in front of him.

That is all I have time for today, see you tomorrow!

Technology: My Reliance

I never realised until I came back from the toilet how much I have relied on technology over the past few days and where I would be without it. Do not ask me why it was after the toilet I realised this, I have been asking myself the same question since I started writing this post. This happens a lot more often than you would think, do not judge me. Just before I had to look up the television guide. Since it is the holidays I was feeling a little lazy so instead of getting up and finding the paper television guide I sort-of, kinda searched it up on the internet. Lucky I did though otherwise I would have missed the Season 5 premiere of Glee. It's actually pretty good except for the fact that it is making this quick post take a long time to write. I am a professional procrastinator after-all.

Source: http://blog.laimoon.com/2013/09/technology-careers-update-for-the-middle-east/

Yesterday I was in the city with Mum while we were waiting for something. Getting in there from where we were was no big problem with Mum just hopping on the first tram she saw. Later Mum revealed she was under the delusion that any tram will just continue in that direction and so any place you want to go in that direction you will get there. Luckily, we made it to the Queen Victoria Market and Melbourne Central without any trouble. I finally caught on to what Mum was doing when she kept pushing a certain road and a tram stop we could take. Luckily I had my phone with access to the internet so I could look it up on the Public Transport Victoria Website. Then, since we had to wait some more I also looked up movie sessions on my phone while we were getting a drink. Without that we would not have seen White House Down (Grown Ups 2 was not playing at the time we needed) and probably would have walked around the city aimlessly with Mum continuing to stress me out by pushing certain routes. I would also get incredibly bored without Facebook, Twitter and Blogger by my side. So, as you can see, I have a heavy reliance on technology and without it I would be lost. I would miss the majority of my television shows (not such a bad thing), get lost a lot (especially in the city) and be incredibly bored (well, more than normal).

Try not to become as reliant on technology as I am, see you tomorrow!

Melbourne Tourists

So there is something special about the type of tourists that come to Melbourne. Although they come from all over the world they all seem to share the same kind of traits and do the same sort of stuff. I call these traits the "Melbourne Tourist" traits. As you can see, I have a great imagination. You guys do not actually realise but I have wrote the last two posts (meaning today's post and yesterday's post) while watching Doctor Who so I guess they might be a little distracted.

Source: http://www.starball.com.au/events/star-ball-melbourne/

Melbourne being as (for want of a more appropriate word) awesome as it is there is no surprise that it is such a popular tourist destination. However, having so many tourists there are a lot of things you pick up about the different types. First you have the wanna-be photographers. These are the tourists that just seem to take picture after picture after picture of things we find meaningless. Seriously, I saw people take a photo in front of a streetlight in Melbourne once with nothing in the background. Some people just can not stop with the photos. Then you have the always so happy tourists that just seem to walk around with permanent smiles and permanent loud (and ecstatic) voices. Once I heard one tourist remark (in a heavy Swedish accent) "A tree! Oh, a bench! Oh, a tram!" That last one I understand as not many places in the world actually have trams and even less use them in the same way as we do. My laptop is about to die so I am going to make the next one my last one. The final type I will discuss is the permanently talking ones. These are the tourists who continuously talk to each other in their native languages so you have no idea what they are saying. Not only is this a little unnerving when they could be talking about you it is also annoying when they become so obsessed with their conversations they do not care for others around them.

Next time you are out and about, check how many types of tourists you can spot (make it a game). See you tomorrow!

No More PUNS!

I have had it up to about here (just imagine me standing on top of the Eureka Skydeck with my hand level with my head) with puns. Small puns, big puns, good puns, bad puns I have just had enough of them! The occasional ones are alright but seriously, I have heard enough of these in the last few weeks to warrant my not-so-sudden dislike of them. Most of the time they either make no sense or are so hurriedly put together that the humour is lost in the stupidity.

Source: http://memegenerator.net/instance/37229031

The worst part is when you think you can get away from the people who make them you find other sources which you can not stop. You never notice how much people around you use puns until you are sick of them. I am seriously starting to consider the possibility that it was the puns that caused my sickness over the past few days. Have you ever noticed how much the news sites and television shows love their puns. You just watch as the anchors have their little chortle after saying something completely 'hilarious'. Then you change to something lighthearted on another channel and again you are assaulted by insulting plays on words. I was relieved once when I watched Come Fly With Me. It is (well, was) a comedy show from the people who made Little Britain and there was one character who always said "If you'll pardon the pun" when he thought he had made one when, really, he had not. It was just so relieving to finally have someone who was not making a pun, even if they thought they were. This post is starting to sound really weird so I think it is as good a place as any to stop it.

Think twice before making a pun, see you tomorrow!

Don't Judge Too Quickly

You know I am serious when I use a conjunction in the title of a post. Seriously though (see what I did there), we live in an age where word of mouth is major and preconceived notions play an important role. Granted, the spread is more in terms of Social Media these days but it still carries the same principles. We see examples of this everyday and we are all guilty of it (and I mean all) and at one point or another we look back and see the truth. Sometimes we have to take this step back so we can tell ourselves to not judge too quickly.

Source: http://amidlifeandsuch.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/dont-judge-book-by-its-cover.html

Miley Cyrus is our current-day example of a person judged too quickly by people. Her new song, Wrecking Ball, is judged by millions of people have not even listened to it (let alone watched the music video). Just because of her previous song We Can't Stop and her infamous performance on the Video Music Awards (VMA) all people see is the few seconds of nudity in the song and that is all they focus on. I have watched YouTube videos of people who have said before watching the video that it is crap and they come out of it completely different. The problem is that this nudity is more artistic in showing the raw emotion of what the song is trying to put across instead of those other acts in We Can't Stop which were just stupid. It is a perfect example of people judging other things without having experienced it themselves. It is so infuriating when people judge things I, or others, watch/listen/read when they themselves have not experienced. It just really pisses me off when people give me crap for watching a show they think is crap when they have not watched it. Sometimes to avoid a pointless argument which will make me want to swear them out of existence I just pretend I do not like it. Guys, seriously, just stop. Next time you might do it to someone with a shorter fuse (and mine is pretty short) and you might not be so lucky. It just makes me want to scream sometimes and between these sentences I have actually had to stop myself from swearing in this post and only allowed myself the one minor slip above which I will not repeat. Just stop guys because it makes us all look like jerks and I know it is not that easy but next time do not judge before you experience okay?

It really does annoy me tremendously when people give me crap for watching or liking something they do not like when they have not watched or experienced it. See you tomorrow!

An Explanation

So you may have realised that the holidays have started and you may also have realised (if you visited this blog since Saturday night that short and not-so-sweet posts have appeared. For this I am very sorry and feel that you deserve an explanation. Sure, it works out for me as well as it counts for today's post but all in all this post is for you guys as you deserve, no... need an answer! Well, actually you do not but anyways, it's late and I do not want to bore you all more than you already are. Sorry guys for the remainder (and introduction) of this post.

Source: http://www.yorubagirldancing.com/2012/03/27/6892/

So I guess our story begins one stormy night in 1997 when a new (and exceptionally bright) light was brought into the world. He would grow up and haunt people's daydreams and change the future forever. He would write a blog which would one day become known as a suppository for all that is procrastination. That boy was me and this is my story. T'was the night before last and all through the house not a creature was silent not even the incredibly sooky dog making up nearly 13% of this blog. It was an eventful night with many a fright throughout the night. It was the next day that I woke up and knew something was wrong for my phone was still sleeping at eight in the morning. My throat was a bugger all day and by night all that was left in life appeared to be sleep. Yet as the dark closed in around our protagonist (I really need to stop changing perspectives mid paragraph) a sudden thought struck him and this thought was of the amazing (and very modest) blog, the Daily Lukey. The next day was very much the same slog with a lot of scooping, moving and shoveling of bark and still, after many soluble tablets, the throat was still an issue. It was late at night and Luke was about to finally asleep after countless minutes (I get lost after two) of tossing and turning when the same thought struck him. His blog left emptied and he thought of making up a story about poor scheduling but felt that a short and sweet post would last better. Thus ends the teary tale of the man without a tail and his incredibly sad dog with one (seriously though, for such an upbeat dog he does sook a lot).

Much sorrow was felt that day and the magical land of Home would never be the same again, see you tomorrow!

Weird Advertisements

Has anyone else noticed the recent rise in weird advertisements? I mean weird in the sense that they simply do not make any sense and the basic message is just, well, basic. There have always being weird advertisements but at least they used to make sense. I saw an advertisement today for Devondale Cheese. I saw absolutely no connection between the content of the advertisement and the product other than right at the end when it finally said what the advert was for. There is another one for some soy-milk drink (I think it was Devondale again) "without the soy-milk-aftertaste-face". All it has is one person grimacing from the so-called "soy-milk-aftertast". The basic message I got from this was that in order to avoid awkward moments caused by soy-aftertaste is to buy their product. For a moment there I was sold but then I realised I did not drink soy milk. Also, some of those skittle adverts. I see no way a message but rather a competition to set the world record for the most skittles shown in thirty seconds. Skittles is notorious for these sort of ads. I just do not see how they achieve much other than cause conversation. Now I think about it, it actually does work as I am talking about it now and remember it more than any other advertisements.

If I see one more Rivers advert I am going to become depressed. See you tomorrow!

Worst Start to Holidays

So yeah, today's post is going to be short. I know you are probably thinking that it is a Saturday so you can just stay up later and write it on your laptop. The thing is, if you are thinking this you are alone. I'm just actually sick. I know, first day of school holidays and I'm already sick, are you kidding me? It's just annoying and a little known fact about me is that I cannot take pills/tablets unless they are soluble. It is not as though I have an allergy or anything I just cannot swallow pills, as hard as I try. On my way home from America I had a cold and Mum wanted me to take some pills before the flight. Let's just say that LAX was the entertainment capital of the world that night and it was all thanks to me.

Anyway, I better sleep before I pass out, see you tomorrow!

The Holidays have Arrived

Hooray! Finally, after ten long weeks of school the holidays have arrived. As much as I enjoy school it is always nice to just get away from it all and relax instead of rushing around trying to organise everything and completing homework. It is a nice feeling although this Term has being a great one. I would like to start off with a bit of an update on the fundraising we held this week on behalf of the 'Wyndham Leaders of the Future' program. I am proud to announce that, thanks to the generosity of students we raised over $600 which will all be pooled together before next April to purchase medical supplies to send to the Menari Medical Centre in Papua New Guinea. Over $100 of this came from the lolly-jar raffle and it is great to see so many people rally behind such a great cause. Aside from this however, this term has been full of a lot of highlights (and yes, I am looking at the term calendar to remind myself).

Source: http://www.millerapartments.com.au/_blog/News_and_Events/post/winter-school-holidays---6th---21st-july-2013/

The term started off with the Australian Maths Games Day which I participated in and had a lot of fun. It may have been a long tram ride from Flinders Street Station but it was worth it and going with a friend made the time seem to pass a lot quicker. Especially, when that friend had not realised how long the tram ride actually was. Then came LOTE week shortly after which supplied a lot of daily entertainment and international songs between bells. It was a nice and relaxing week and next year should be a whole lot better with even more students. Science Week followed not too long after and the daily recess trivia competitions with the horrible animations (that were funny because of how bad they were) really made my day (well, several of them actually). Finally, Book Week decided to show up and there were movie screenings in the iCentre (what we call our school library), a Macbeth incursion on the Wednesday (with actors from the Bell Shakespeare Company), a dress up day on the Friday and lots of competitions in between. Melbourne Writer's Festival then followed suit the following Monday which was a lot of fun to participate in and, since I was just an iCentre volunteer, I could just relax and enjoy the day rather than have to worry about doing any related work. The Arts and Technology week then came around with our performance-night on the Tuesday and the House Choral competition which was a blast. Seriously, this school is anything but boring. Finally, to cap it all of, there was this week full of fundraising for a good cause. Not a week goes by at this school without something happening, our Term calendar has barely a blank day anywhere with absolutely no empty week in sight.

It has been a busy term so a holiday is needed, see you tomorrow!

Most Tagged on Daily Lukey

So today I was thinking of inspiration. Then it hit me, literally. As I walked outside Sandy came and rammed me full-on (accidentally of course). Then I realised that this blog is already at least 12% tagged with "Sandy" so today I thought I would talk you through some of my most popular tags in terms of posts tagged with them. So sit back, relax and ignore Sandy. The number of tags includes the tags of this post and the percentages take into account this post (so 178 posts).

Source: https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/44498?hl=en

1. School (56)

So I am not really surprised by this because, as I say on numerous occasions, I write from inspiration and since I am at school five days a week most of my inspiration comes from school. So that is why School is tagged fifty-six times within this blog. This makes up 31.4% of this blog.

2. Friends (46)

This one was a little surprising as I did not think I talked about friends a lot in this blog but apparently I do. Well, I guess when you are as popular as I am... just kidding, I am not that conceited. Still though, Friends does make up 25.8% of this blog (yeah, I am using a calculator).

3. Entertainment (33)

I guess that I talk about a lot of entertainment stuff in this blog even though I am not that entertaining but anyway, someone somewhere must be. I mean, if they make up 18.5% of my blog they must be something special. You do not get on my blog that easily. Okay, maybe you do.

4. High School (32)

Again, I am not that surprised about the large number of posts in this blog regarding High School. I guess if you really wanted to know why you can look again at number one because this is basically the same reason except there is a little less as High School is a bit more specific than school. Still, making up 18.0% of my blog is no easy feat.

5. Annoying (32)

As this blog is taken from a lot of my personal experiences there really is no reason why this should be any lower. I am just saying that if something is annoying me and I have nothing else to write about, be prepared for some offloading. 18.0% of this blog is me ranting about what is annoying so yeah, go check those out!

6. Family (28)

Family, no surprise this is so high. I mean, seeing as for the majority of my life I have been with them and all of my life I have known them it is no wonder there are so many posts tagged with this. They make up the majority of my life and 15.7% of this blog (see what I did there ;)

7. Homework (28)

Yet another non-surprising popular tag. I will often discuss homework issues or other things related to homework on this blog. It is a part of the reason why some posts come out really late and are short because they were written on my phone. Blame homework, it makes up 15.7% of this blog.

8. YouTube (23)

I live on YouTube and rarely a day goes by when I have not visited it at least once. Seriously, I can not remember the last day I was not on YouTube although, admittedly, that is not saying a lot since I do not have such a great memory but, anyway. It makes up a large portion of my life and 12.9% of this blog (I did it again).

9. Sandy (22)

This lovable dog has, arguably, being on this blog too much. I guess this post was sort of putting it into perspective in the fact that there are a lot more other topics with more posts. However, since there are a few hundred different tags, being the ninth most popular is probably saying something. He comes in at number nine with 12.4% of this blog about him. See my great approximation in my introduction. No, I just edited that two seconds ago, hehe.

10. Facebook (21)

Yeah, as much time as I do spend on YouTube I do spend a lot of time on Facebook as well. Especially over the school holidays when I get bored and addicted to all the different games online. Woops, looks like that time is coming around again (1 more day!!). Facebook makes up 12.1% of this blog.

So you can see, there are a variety of popular posts on my blog. See you tomorrow!

Awkward Moments with Others

So you know how people have those awkward moments? For some this is when someone calls you by name and says "hello" but you cannot remember theirs so all you can say is "hi" right on back. For others it is when they forget something important like someone's birthday or celebration. However, for me one of the major sources of awkwardness is when people say they read my blog. Can we just stop for a second and consider the gravity of this situation? I mean, as soon as someone says something like that my mind starts running at a hundred miles an hour. It seriously goes into overdrive with all these possibilities opening in my mind.

Source: http://www.boscoanthony.com/social-awkwardness/

I mean, what post did they start reading from? How were they introduced to my blog? I then pray to God (and I am not a very religious person by the way) with all my might that they did not start off on one of my weird ones and went into one that was more of a gentle introduction into the wonder that is "Daily Lukey". Yep, I just went there. I mean like right now. All the people reading this who have ever told me they read my blog are probably feeling really guilty by now. Yeah, feel that guilt. Are your observations funny anymore? Seriously though guys, I do not really care it just worries me about what you must think of me. Seriously, have you read some of the stuff I write on this? I mean, it is almost as bad as when people tell me they watch my YouTube videos. I made the smart decision recently to privatise every video other than my tutorial videos. So now, I am happy if you watch my Channel as they are not so embarrassing. I like my tutorial videos rather than my other ones (mainly because only my voice are in them). I still get people coming up to me (jokingly of course) telling me to make a tutorial on something (like how to play Dodgeball or, as many have put it, "be a Lukey"). Yeah, did you just read that? You can be a "Lukey" now! I also have a lot of people asking me how I come up with the topics. The truth is, as I have said many times, most of the time I have no idea what I am talking about until right near the very end. Sometimes I am amazed I even get an introduction done, yet alone a whole post!

Do not be afraid to come up to me to tell me you read my blog! See you tomorrow!

Songs in my Playlist

Okay, so here is the big deal. I spent the last thirty minutes doing basically nothing except daydream about what this post should be about when it was right in front of me the whole time. See people, sometimes I do not even know what I am going to write about until right before I do (hell, sometimes I do not know what I am writing about when I finish my introduction). My wonderful source of inspiration this time around is my phone (so thank you for that Samsung [not sponsored]) which I was using to listen to music. I decided that I would like to go through some of my favourite songs that I am listening to right now that are on my phone. Of course, this is not all of them (I mean, seriously, who but a stalker (or your LOTE teacher) wants to know all the music you listen to?) but just a few of my favourites. I will embed a YouTube video of each song.

Source: http://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=73967

1. Rise Above 2 from Spider Man: Turn off the Dark

This hard-hitting song from the ambitious Broadway musical is always on my playlist when I am having a shower. I prefer the cast recording version over the one Bon Jovi sings [Rise Above 1] (Bon Jovi and The Edge the creators of this musical). Here is a snippet of the song as performed on Broadway.

2. Applause by Lady Gaga

I'll confess I find myself a fan of Lady Gaga. I like her songs and have a majority of them. Her most recent song, Applause, is another one of the songs I like of hers. I have embedded the lyric video rather than the music video as it is a bit, uh, artistic shall we say and I want this blog to remain open to all ages.

3. Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus

I actually like this controversial artist's new song. I may not agree with her previous song "We Can't Stop" which just seemed to over-leap the mark (I have read too much Macbeth). Here is the official music video.

4. Roar by Katy Perry

I am yet another fan of many of Katy Perry's song and I am happy to say that I include her new song, Roar, as one of them. Below is the official music video of this great song (as judged by me).

I live for the applause, applause, applause. See you tomorrow!

The Curse Has Lifted

So as some of you may know one of my electives at school is Game Design. Sure, it sounds all fun and exciting but basically there are just modules (basically just a textbook with each chapter as a module) that you have to complete that includes games and stuff to code that it walks you through. In this sense it is good as you learn how to code for games so you can eventually make your own. It is also good because next term (we already have started our proposals) we spend the whole time just creating our own games to put into practice what we learnt. It is going to be fun and I am making a puzzle game just so you know. I guess, since I completed all the modules and game proposals today it is also a time for me to relax and finish other homework. Seriously though, if you are looking for a class where you can get away with minimal work then Game Design is for you.

Source: http://www.nyfa.edu/summer_camp/programs/game-design/

However, for me this subject is cursed. It is not cursed in the sense that I suck at it (which I do not by the way) or it is really hard. It is cursed because every time I have Game Design I get a runny nose during that class and at no other time during the day. The thing is, it is not the classroom as I have other classes in there and this does not happen. It really is a curse. Also, because it is so quiet as everyone is working (or watching YouTube videos) you can not blow your nose because it will just draw attention to you. It is sort of like during Assembly or Mass when there is a minutes silence and during that one minute you have never wanted to sneeze more in your entire life. It really is horrible. If you read the title of this post though (as so many do) you will know that the curse has lifted. This is so true because today was the first time in a long time that it did not happen. I even had tissues ready. It was probably me jinxing myself because the other times I was not prepared for it but as soon as I started cluing in to what was going on it changed on me. Story of my life. Wow, I never thought I could get through a whole post just talking about this (Gas Bag level "Luke" reached) but apparently I just did. Always nice to show myself up.

Seriously though, Game Design is cursed (do not do it, or do it. It is your choice to make), see you tomorrow.

Donations in Kind

I said I would keep you guys up-to-date with my Wyndham 'Leaders of the Future' program and so here I am. Yesterday morning we had our first community engagement activity. You may also know that Friday was also my year ten formal so basically I came home and went to sleep late to wake up early the next morning. That was not fun but the rest of the day was. Anyway, so this community engagement activity was with the Werribee Rotary and their project Donations in Kind. Donations in Kind is where they collect old clothes, toys, and furniture etcetera to send overseas to less-well-off countries. The majority of this stuff is new and is from big businesses like Coles and Woolworths where logos have changed around so we were packing Woolworths shirts, Coles uniforms, police ties and much more.

Source: http://rotarnet.com.au/users/9/96452/updates170211.htm

It was a great experience and those of us who came really came together as a group. On the bus trip there we were sort of getting to know each other but were still separated into class groups. However, when we arrived and the organisers saw there were more of us than they were expecting it meant that we all had to work together to effectively get the job done. It was a lot of trial and error but in the end we worked it all out and were working effectively. We had to communicate and get to know each other's names to effectively work as a team which acted as an ice-breaker and on the bus trip home we were all joking and laughing with each other rather than sitting in silence. It was a great experience and it was touching to realise that the things we packed were actually going overseas to people who did not need it and those clothes could mean the difference between life and death in places where the climate is in the extremes. We were shown around the place and told stories of how they had heard back from people who were grateful. They even told us how when we went over to Papua New Guinea we would see a large number of people wearing old Telstra or Coles shirts. We were all humbled by our experience and we will always remember our experiences.

I promise to keep you all updated with fundraising and other activities, see you tomorrow.

Year 10 Formal

So last night, as you may well know if you read last night's scheduled post (I know, I was organised for once. Hooray!), was my Year 10 Formal. To put it simply, it was AWESOME! There was so much work that went into it and it all payed off in the end as everyone I spoke to had a great time. Even one of my friends who is always a bit on the Mr Negativity side of things and came to the night thinking it was a waste of time came up to me and said that he was wrong and this is fantastic. I guess fantastic really does describe it as the atmosphere itself was just fantastic. It was held at Waterfront Venus Docklands in Melbourne and it had the best view over the harbour and over past Etihad Stadium. It was wonderful and I would really like to thank the venue staff for making the night so memorable.

Source: http://thecontrolleronline.com/2012/10/007-legends-review/

As you may have worked out from the picture the theme was James Bond. This was more in the way of decorations rather than actual dress theme which made it even better as everyone looked different. There was a lot of work also that went into the night which included Year 10 class captain meetings and surveys to ensure we could cater to as wide an audience as possible. In the end we had 167 (out of 200) Year 10 Students come plus around ten or so teachers. There was also a free photo booth (photos printed on the spot and put on Facebook for free), a roaming photographer (photos free and on Facebook) and a set photo point with a backdrop with prints costing $10 but it was all worth it. People really got into the night and came dressed to impress and some people were very hard to recognise because they looked so different in such a good way. I was lucky enough to arrive early to help set up so I could see the sunset over the harbour as I was placing seating arrangements. We were expecting people to come a bit later than 7pm but at around ten to there was already a large crowd waiting outside to come in but they were not allowed until 7pm. However, many of us had already been there since 6pm setting up so we were all ready and basically we were waiting on both sides of the door. It was such a great opportunity and something to be a part of. We danced (by dancing I mean jumped up and down with the beat and everybody else), socialised, ate, drunk, took plenty of pictures and had a damn good time. When it was time to leave I just did not want to go.

This formal was definitely something I will remember for years to come, see you tomorrow!

Gullible

So hooray guys, today I was organised! I wrote two posts at once which was yesterday's and today's. I wrote them both last night because I knew that I would not be able to write another one tonight. Why is that you may ask. Well, tonight is my Year 10 Formal which is going to be so great, I can not wait (although when this post comes out it will probably be about to start or something). So in between making posters for my fundraiser, scrolling through my Facebook news feed and watching YouTube videos I decided to write those two posts. I am pretty proud of myself as this means I do not have to worry about hurriedly typing one on the way home on the iPad because they all turn out pretty bad as it takes a lot longer to type. So we all know someone who does not think twice about what they are being told and takes everything as fact (seriously, did you see that change in subject?). This is their story (*cue "dun dun" Law & Order sound*).

Source: http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/3171988/Gullible/

Sometimes this can be great as they do not question you even when you are obviously wrong or missing something important. It is also great as it leads to a lot of funny (and sometimes mean) gags at their expense. I mean, how many times have you fallen for "Gullible is written on the ceiling"? For some this occurs too often and it has become a problem. It can also be a problem as you have to be extra careful with what you say around them because they are not going to know if you are joking or not. Sometimes even sarcasm is lost on these people. It happens to the best of us and we are just left there looking like idiots. However, sometimes you need to draw a fine line between gullible and argumentative. There just comes a point when you are so not gullible that you question and argue with everything someone says to you. This is often the most annoying trait someone can have as you can not possibly have a normal conversation with them.

Being gullible is often not a very fun thing (ignore my horrible sentence structure please), see you tomorrow!

Song in Head Disease

There are so many diseases in our World. Just think about it, there are hundreds. Due to the vast majority of such diseases there are quite a few that are often overlooked or simply ignored. Sometimes I wonder why they are ignored as they can be the most debilitating disease, especially one. I am, of course (just read the title), talking about the gruesome Song-in-head-Disease. It is a debilitating illness that can cause the patient to experience vast trauma depending on the artists or song. Sometimes it is brought on by others while most of the time it is our own fault that we contract the short-lived yet incredibly virulent disease.

Source: http://scienceillustrated.com.au/blog/culture/the-evolution-of-music/

At any one moment a person can be experiencing song-in-head disease from a variety of songs as we try to quell one song with the other. The disease starts off innocently enough with a song which is repeated and repeated and repeated and ... well you get the idea. By about the nth time this occurs you have fully contracted the disease and now must suffer through a song you most likely have no lyrics for. I mentioned in the introduction that this is a short-lived disease. This is true in the majority of cases as once the patient gets distracted by something else they quickly forget the song and the disease passes on. However, while the disease is in full control it is incredibly virulent. It can cause the person to hum the tune or sing it out loud which can cause the infection of everyone around them (as well as a few burst ear drums depending on the singer). Sometimes we also have the 'friend' who acts as a carrier. They do not suffer from the disease but have the tendency to sing out loud or purposely get a song stuck in another's head. Song-in-head disease is serious and should not be taken lightly!

Sorry for any offence, see you tomorrow!

Exercising with Sandy

So it is official, the percentage of this blog that is about Sandy is rising. This is becoming an issue but it is hard to avoid because he is such a large source of inspiration and every day he manages to do something that I either catalog in my brain for future posts or I write about straight away. Tonight's post is of the latter. So I recently acquired my exercise and diet plan for my Kokoda trip expedition. Last night I started my exercise regime and then I did the next thing on the calendar today. Today's workout was cardio and so because I came home late from my Methods tutor I had to do it in the backyard at night. This was where the trouble began and, guess what, it all revolved around Sandy (as so much of the world does [at least in his own world]).

Source: http://dogblog.finchester.org/2008/11/divesting.html

So Sandy is one of those spoilt dogs who gets so many toys and so they just accrue. The above picture is not of Sandy's toys. No, he has much more. Just joking, Sandy has a lot less (I think. Well, I hope). Sandy is also one of those dogs that thinks that whenever you go outside it is because of him and not because of everything else. So I go outside to start my exercise and so I begin by running around the backyard. This became a very dangerous experience as Sandy kept running 'with' me at random intervals of speed and constantly got in my way because he dropped a toy or ball. I actually tripped over him three times in the first ten minutes alone. Then he got a little tired and whenever I came back around to the entrance of the patio he kept running in thinking it was over. I kid you not he did this ten times before he got tired. From this point on he just sat in the middle of the backyard swiveling his head around following my laps. Occasionally he would get up and just jump on me and it was obvious that he just wanted to play. Seriously, exercising with Sandy is a very dangerous activity and next time I will think twice and probably put him on a rope so he can not annoy me the entirety of the time.

Sandy is a dangerous workout buddy, see you tomorrow!

Fundraising

So the trouble with going to a school with so many fundraisers (besides the constant loss of money) is that when it comes time to have one you have no idea what to do because most of them have already being done. As those of you who have been reading this blog for some time may know that I am part of a leadership program run by Wyndham Police called 'Leaders of the Future'. Part of this program (the culmination in fact) is walking 96 kilometres of the Kokoda Track. Some of what we are doing involves raising money for a local Health Centre in the village of Menari which is along the track. So now that it comes time to think of brainstorming ideas with the other person from my school who is also doing the program we are at a bit of a loss. Damn you charitable school.

Source: http://desktopmag.com.au/project-wall/fundraising-downunder-logo/

Do not ask me why I chose that picture. I used Google to image search "Fundraising" and that was the only one that caught my eye. Do not judge me. Anyway, so I spoke to one of the assistant principals at my school and managed to secure the casual clothes day at the end of term for our cause. The thing with our school is most end-of-terms (except the end of year since we all finish different days) are casual clothes days to raise money for whatever organisation in the school puts their hand up for it (or organises) it first. If no one organises it then there is no casual clothes day. That was the easy part. The hard part is thinking of other things we can do on the day to raise even more money. We can not do a talent show as so many other groups have already done that this year. A guess-the-lollies in the jar competition is also out of the question as they only just did that a few weeks ago for the 40 Hour Famine. I was thinking of maybe doing a raffle with jars of lollies as prizes or something. That way there could be more than one prize and we could get away with charging more than 50 cents a ticket. Anyway, I better leave it at this as it is getting late.

Why does our school have to be so damn charitable? See you tomorrow!

Sticky Beaks

So today's post was a bit of a toughie to find a topic for. I hate to break it to you guys but finding inspiration is hard (something I have probably set several times, make that definitely). It is especially so when your life revolves around School, CFA (sometimes a source of inspiration), Piano, Jujitsu, Relaxation and Sandy. Of course my life does not completely revolve around those six things (can you believe how long it took me to count that? Well, probably not since it seems as though this sentence just goes on and on and on) but you get the idea. Sometimes I am lucky and I find some good inspiration which provides me with posts for many days ahead. So, of course, I use one and save the rest for a rainy day. Guess what guys, it is raining (well actually it is but never mind) and it is time to use up one of these posts. Granted, the inspiration was reiterated yesterday when I was walking Sandy but let's keep it going. Wow, I do mention Sandy a lot in this blog. I just went through my tags and there are twenty posts tagged with Sandy. That means that 11.9% of this blog is currently about Sandy. Anyway, moving on.

Source: http://goldsworthy.aminus3.com/image/2013-02-01.html

So I realised while walking Sandy yesterday (see there he is again) that my family are total sticky-beaks. I mean total sticky-beaks. No, I do not mean my family are birds with their beaks covered in a sticky substance. I mean that they like to know what is going on even when it does not concern them. Hey, I am little guilty of this as well. By little I mean a bit and by a bit I mean a lot. Sandy is a sticky-beak in almost everything. If ever we go to feed the chickens (whose coop is in the backyard) Sandy follows us always and if we do not give him a piece of the bread that we give the chickens then he goes into melt-down. Put simply, Sandy is very jealous of the chickens and always wants to know what they are getting. Then whenever we walk him and he comes a cross a bush he always tries to look over it to see what is on the other side (why he does not just walk around with me is something I will never quite understand). My Mum on the other hand was such a sticky-beak at one point that I made ten dollars once (I negotiated) just for walking out the front of our house to check if the neighbor's car was next door. Needless to say it was the easiest ten dollars I ever made. My brothers both like to know what is going on at any one moment and one just seems to have supersonic hearing, when it suits him of course. Then there comes to those reality television shows like Big Brother. I used to like it but have since stopped watching it as it takes up too much time. I'll watch it occasionally but sometimes this can be as little as once every two weeks if that. Mum and my brother on the other hand watch it devoutly. I swear, if that is not a sign of being a sticky-beak then I do not know what is.

Don't even get me started on my father, see you tomorrow!

Nature

We often take nature for granted. Actually, we almost always take it for granted. It is not until it is gone that we realise what we once had. Nature is such a wonder and it comes in many shapes and forms. For one we have our natural environment which is always around us. All the trees, animals, birds (why I added that after animals I will never know) and plants that make up our natural world are often taken for granted until they are all gone. As the popular adage goes; you do not know what you have got until it is gone. Without even one of these parts of nature our world would be completely different and unrecognisable. If one of these were to simply cease existing of whatever reason then a majority of the world would die.Without trees and plants there would be no photosynthesis and therefore no fresh oxygen which billions of living creatures require for life. Without birds and animals whole portions of the food-chain would fall apart which would affect nearly all living creatures on Earth.

Source: http://cauldronsandcupcakes.com/2012/10/12/self-growth-nature-oracle-a-reading-to-guide-your-current-energies/

Nature is also a very resilient thing. After all the destruction we put it through on a daily basis it still manages to thrive and adapt. How many plants have you seen grow around pillars? How many times have you seen weeds growing through cracks in the pavement? This is nature adapting even though we have been struggling with this for years. Of course, we are quite adaptive at times but nature is even more so. Just look at the picture above. We created a boardwalk through this nature which would have involved a lot of destruction. However, nature regrew and became what we can now see. It truly is beautiful. After the Black Saturday fires of 2009 nature was devastated and scorched. However, if you return to the places worst effected today you would find new life and a nature completely different to what it once was but in a beautiful way. In this way (and in fact most ways) nature is a very resilient thing. We destroy and destroy without even thinking of the consequences and whose homes we are destroying to create our own. Sometimes it takes a beautiful day like today to remind us of how lucky we are to have nature all around us. It would be very hard to live in a world without it and I for one am glad that I do not.

Nature is something we should nurture and not just toss aside like most of our lives, see you tomorrow.

Characters Who Deserve Their Own Show

We all have characters we just love. Whether they be from television shows, web series or movies they all have something about them that make us want to watch more of them. Sometimes we even voice our opinions of them on Public Forums. Below I have compiled a list of some of the characters I would love to have their own television shows.

1. Chi Chi: Life's a Zoo.tv

This lovable and peace-loving panda from popular YouTube series Life's a Zoo.tv truly does deserve her own show. She is described as a grade five teacher and is shown as a character who does not like any form of violence except if it involves cooking because, of course, Chi Chi loves food. The show was created by the Smosh channel Shut Up! Cartoons.

Source: http://www.thecomedychannel.com.au/shows/lifes-a-zoo.html

2. The Minions: Despicable Me

Who does not want the minions to have their own show or movie? They are such inspired characters that really make up most of the comedy of the movie. Even their made up language (though unintelligible) is still hilarious to behold.

Source: http://lindsayhumbert.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/despicable-me-minions-not-the-only-one-curious-about-the-third-dimension/

3. Stewie Griffin: Family Guy

So here we have one of my favourites (besides Chi Chi). This smart little toddler with the oddly-shaped head has wormed his way into many hearts with his constantly evil plans to either kill Lois or take over the world. Stewart Griffin deserves his own show for sure.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewie_Griffin

4. Joe McAlister: Under the Dome

This character surely should have his own spin-off series. He is just such a down-to-earth character just trying to do what is right and when he finds love in new-to-town girl Norrie Calvert-Hill. He may have his own videos on the Under the Dome YouTube channel and even his own blog but seriously, he deserves his own show. Such a talented young actor (Colin Ford) who plays him.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/under-the-dome-joe-norrie-seizures_n_3559936.html

Some characters just deserve their own show, see you tomorrow!

Do You Remember When?

So it is pretty late right now as I only just got home from being out with the family. On the way home I was watching YouTube and reminiscing about things in the past that people born more recently would have no idea about. I was also trying to find a quick post to write as I am very tired and my thinking processes at the moment are not what they once were.

Do you remember when Sabrina used to be on television? It still is now but it has lost its popularity and they are all reruns.

Do you remember Daria, the animated MTV television show? I have the DVD at home and whenever I watch it I keep thinking back to when I was younger and I would watch it on ABC. At least I think it was ABC, I do not really know.

Do you remember when Fireman Sam used to be made using stop-motion animation and not this fancy 3D stuff they use now? I used to love watching Fireman Sam.

Do you remember when " 'sup?" used to be something cool? Neither can I.

Do you remember when chips used to come in those clear plastic bags within the bigger bag and you used to get more value for money?

Do you remember in Primary School how you would think the smaller year-levels were shrinking when really you were growing? This sadly took me a while to work out.

Do you remember when movies used to say "3D in select cinemas" instead of the current "2D in select cinemas"? I can still remember when going to see a 3D movie was one of the coolest things you could do.

Do you remember a time when there were no smartphones and flip-phones were the latest craze?

Do you remember Gameboy Colour and Gameboy Advance? I still have mine actually and the games still work.

Do you remember how everyone's DS Lites used to break really quickly? Why was mine the only one that never broke? Did I keep good care of it or something?

Do you remember when this Blog finished in a meaningful way? I sometimes believe I can but then I wake up. See you tomorrow!

House Chorals 2013

Be prepared for another short post although this is happening so much you probably are more surprised to see a long one. Anyway, for today's topic I would like to reflect on my school's House Choral competition. Would that be alright by you? Well it's my blog so if you do not like it then you can leave. So basically the competition is each house sings a song (this year it was two) together. They also use a band to play the songs and some houses even have choreography to go with the song. It was actually a lot of fun and I can not wait until next year which is bound to be heaps better with more students. It really pulled many people in our house together and was a great experience.

You would not believe your eyes if I wrote a long post tonight, see you tomorrow.

Getting Distracted

Have you ever started something, gotten distracted and realised hours later that you still have not done what you were originally meant to do? Yeah, story of my life. It happens to me all the time and so today I am going to discuss some of the times this has happened to me through examples. I know I did a post on distractions back in May but that was more about studying as I wrote it around the Semester 1 exams. This one is going to be different so you may see something familiar but overall it is different. So yeah, do not say I write the same stuff over and over again. Even my YouTube Subscriptions and Politics Series were different in that each post contained something different. If you have not read either of these two series then I am not fussed but if you look in the archives down there on your right (it is so hard to point through words) Politics will be under August and September while YouTube Subscriptions will be under June.

Source: http://www.daxmoy.com/london-personal-trainer-asks-what-is-your-distraction/

So when you try to start an assignment you sit down and open your books to start writing (if the assignment is to be done by hand). However, within a short period of time you tell yourself to go get a drink, it's good to keep hydrated, you are a good student. On your way to get a drink you hear the television and stop to look at what is on. BAM, YOU ARE DISTRACTED! Suddenly you have to go to bed and you have not even begun when it is due the very next day.

You are screwed. When you try to start your assignment and you open your laptop because you need to submit it electronically. You then open up your Internet browser to do some research. Ten minutes later you give yourself a little break. Every student needs a break to maintain their attention and health, you are a good student. You spend your break on Facebook and YouTube and BAM, YOU ARE DISTRACTED! Suddenly you have to go to bed and you have not even begun when it is due the very next day.

When you are studying for a test and you can not remember something and can not find any reference to it in any of your books. You decide you will text your friends to see if they can help you. However, you receive no response so you turn to Facebook and message them. However, on your way to message them you come by your news feed and BAM, YOU ARE LIVING YOUR LIFE THROUGH OTHER PEOPLE, YOU ARE DISTRACTED! Suddenly you have to go to bed and you have not even begun when it is due the very next day.

When you are meant to be practicing for a music exam or performance and you have just arrived home from school. You allow yourself a short break because you know you need a rest from music. You turn to the music on your phone and YouTube. BAM, SUDDENLY YOU ARE IN THE DARK EDGE OF YOUTUBE WITH NO HOPE OF ESCAPE, YOU ARE DISTRACTED! Suddenly you have to go to bed and you have not even begun when it is due the very next day.

When you are supposed to be writing a blog post and you turn to news.com for inspiration and find nothing. You decide to turn to Facebook to find something to vent your frustrations on. BAM, YOU FIND YOURSELF ABSORBED IN THE DEPRESSING READING OF FACEBOOK STATUSES, YOU ARE DISTRACTED (and possibly questioning your will to live)! Suddenly you have to go to bed and you have not even begun when it is due the very next day.

I hope these experiences did something for you as they did nothing for me, what is the point of this post? See you tomorrow!

As Parties End

So I am really tired and so I am just going to finish this politics series off. The final nine will be explained today and so do not expect one on Thursday. I can hear some of your cheers already. Great, I feel like Daria saying everything in a monotone. Daria was actually a pretty good show, you guys should go check it out if you have not already. Anyway, getting back to politics. Let's get started! As it is late there will be no pictures today. Just words and politics.

The Shooters and Fishers Party is the voice of "hunters, shooters, fishers, rural and regional Australia and independent thinking Australians everywhere."

The Smokers Rights Party is one a whole-heartedly do not support as I do not support smoking in any way, shape or form. This political party believes that "Australian Smokers have been unfairly targeted by all major political parties." They basically fight for the rights of Australian Smokers as they see them.

The Socialist Alliance is an alliance (obviously) of socialist organisations and individuals within Australia. It was created by people who "saw an urgent need for greater left unity to fight attacks on the rights and living conditions of workers and the poor."

The Socialist Equality Party is a political party "of and for the working class. The SEP seeks not to reform capitalism, but to create a socialist, democratic and egalitarian society.

The Stop CSG Party is concerned about the devastating effects of coal seam gas and other unconventional gas mining. CSG stands for Coal Steam Gas.

The 23 Million is a political party of "fair-minded non-politicians who just want a better-run Australia." They are called The 23 Million to represent the 23 million Australian Population (which has since risen obviously).

The Wikileaks Party was set up by Julian Assange the founder and owner of the infamous site Wikileaks. It stands for "unswerving commitment to the core principles of civic courage nourished by understanding and truthfulness and the free flow of information.

The Uniting Australia Party is another one of the parties that plans to put everyday Australians back in power and into politics.

Finally, the Voluntary Euthanasia Party is a self-explanatory party created to "provide the choice and dignity that current legislation is denying the most vulnerable Australians." They wish to legalise voluntary euthanasia.

With so many parties is it not nice to see the end? See you tomorrow.

Super Short and Super Sweet

So it's really late now so this post is going to be very short. Just before I wrote this Sandy scared the hell out of my brother and I. Recently Sandy has being sleeping in our room because Mum has being feeling sick and Sandy is super crazy. He is also very noisy. However there was a five minute period where he made no sound at all. I told my brother and we both started thinking he died because he did not respond to us calling him. Josh turns his phone light on him though and it turns out he's just sitting there staring at us. In the dark it is really creepy.

Sandy is a creepy dog, see you tomorrow!

The Parties Go On

So we are now at Part 4 of this series which received a bit of a siesta over the past few days as time constraints and bad excuses got in the way. I like to think that this would prevent you from getting bored although politics is actually not that boring. I am going to reiterate the fact that if you have not seen some of the scenes in Parliament you have not witnessed one of the best (well at least most entertaining) moments of Politics. Anyway, continuing on with this series let's get straight to it! As there are only 18 parties left I am going to do nine today and another nine on Tuesday. So that will be why this post will be slightly shorter than the other ones in this series.

Let's begin with the Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting) is only a small party but with members in all states and territories in Australia. It supports less government control over many aspects of daily family life. It particularly supports a number of policies seeking changes in the areas of family law and child support.

Source: http://www.virginvoters.com.au/parties/non-custodial-parents-party/

The One Nation party is a right-wing political party founded by the infamous Australia Pauline Hanson. It has received much unfavourable coverage earlier this year following an interview one of its candidates gave to Seven News which contained a lot of misinformation. The said candidate has since withdrawn from a political career. It has a long list of objectives I will not name out of the tedious nature of that list.

The Outdoor Recreation Party is a minor party in New South Wales. It represents the outdoor community and interests such as cycling, bushwalking and camping just to name a few. They are committed to less government control over outdoor recreation. They are very opposed to the Greens political party. So much so in fact that in 2013 they added to the end of their party name Stop the Greens.

The Palmer United Party is a new one founded only this year by mining magnate Clive Palmer. Among other things they plan to abolish the contentious Carbon Tax, revise the current refugee policy and create mineral wealth.

Finally, an interestingly named party for this post. Pirate Party Australia represents civil liberty issues. It focuses on copyright reform, internet freedom and ending censorship. It is also a new party having only been registered with the Australian Electoral Commission in January of this year.

Source: http://www.geekinsydney.com/2908/pirate-party-australia-approved/

The Republican Party of Australia is a party concerned with ending Australia's links with the commonwealth and become a republic. Basically it is what it says it is.

The Rise Up Australia Party is a socially conservative political party. It is focused on nationalist and christian conservative issues such as opposing the spread of Islamic doctrine in Australia as well as opposing Same Sex Marriage (if I could vote, I would not vote for them).

The Secular Party of Australia stands for secular humanist ethical principles. They aim to separate Church and State within Australia and promote secularism worldwide. They also stand for other things like human rights and social justice, the maximisation of civil liberties and to defend freedom of expression.

Finally, the Senator Online party has no policies but instead has pledged to conduct online polls for every bill that passes before senate. So in a way they stand for the representation of every Australian in parliament (well at least Senate).

Don't forget to check back on Tuesday for the final part to this series, see you tomorrow!