Graffiti

Can we just pause for a moment and reflect on the idiotic act that is graffiti. Graffiti that is actually a nice artwork I can understand, I personally like Graffiti Lane in Melbourne. However, when graffiti is used just for the sake of vandalism and to be "cool" then I have a problem. This blog post was sparked after some horrible graffiti that vandals sprayed onto the iconic Captain Cook's Cottage in Melbourne which is a big thing in Melbourne as it is part of our cultural heritage. However, some idiots decided it would be fun to defile it and cover it in graffiti. You can see the photo below. It says "26th January Australia Shame!" There is a time and a place to protest but to do this to an Australian landmark is totally unacceptable.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/MelbourneMemes

What to they think gives them the right to do this? It is bad enough that they wrote on the wall but did they have to continue with the other coloured graffiti. The worst part is that the culprits are likely to never be found and be brought to justice. It really is despicable how they can do this and get away with it. To do it on any other brick wall is still bad, but this is an Australian icon and landmark which makes the crime a hundred times worse.. I feel sorry for the council workers who have to clean up someone else's mess. It really is very selfish. There are thousands of ways to protest about Australia Day but this should have never been an option. As I mentioned earlier, graffiti can also be appealing as it can  be very artistic. Sometimes, people even hire graffiti artists to liven up an area with an interesting mural or piece of art. The following is an example of good graffiti which does no harm and is actually appealing.

Source: http://ciuki.wordpress.com/category/centrum/page/3/

What I am trying to say is that graffiti has a time and a place. Captain Cook's Cottage should never be a place or a time yet a disused plain wall could use with some artistic graffiti. Though I emphasise the adjective; 'artistic' because just scribbling swear words is not artistic, no matter how much effort you put into it.

Just think before you act. 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!

Vandalism

What do we really stand to gain through vandalism? What could possible justify the thoughtless destruction that vandals cause every day? When was the last time you went on a train and looked through a window with no marks on it whatsoever? When was the last time you went into the city and did not see any graffiti? Vandalism costs millions to the government every year and whose money does the Government use to pay for this? The taxpayers' of course! Imagine how much more money could be spent on education and health if vandalism was not a factor. Imagine the better resources our great country could have. It is the selfish minority that ruin it for the innocent majority, as it usually is.

Image Source: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/metro%20trains?before=21

Vandalism comes in many different forms all of which destroy the natural beauty of the resources around us. Imagine a red-brick wall, just a plain one. Imagine all the possibilities. It could become a mural, a public noticeboard or even something displaying community spirit. Now imagine this plain brick wall tarnished with the filth that is graffiti. Imagine all the possibilities now lost due to one selfish act of vandalism. Now imagine a simple playground for children. A playground always full of families out for a fun time of swings, slides and climbing. Imagine the social skills the children would develop when playing with other children their age. Now imagine during the night such a community hub was violated with the impurity of foul language an infant should never know, or the lick of flames burning away the innocence of the children who once enjoyed this place. Vandalism is diverse but has the same affect, it is violating and repugnant. It steals the innocence of youth and destroys the spirit of a community. Vandalism is really one selfish, disgusting act.

Image Source: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/print/187411

Vandalism tears communities apart and can have devastating affects on everyone in it. Imagine all the trains put out of service due to vandalism. Imagine all the playgrounds ruined by the selfish acts of the few. Imagine the innocence of millions of children been ripped away from them as they are forced to face the harsh realities of life too soon. Imagine members of the community turning against each other and priceless community gems lost in fires or covered in graffiti. Imagine a world where one could walk down one city block without seeing any graffiti. It's hard to imagine such a world isn't it? It shouldn't be so hard but it is because of the vandalism in the community. So next time you think of vandalism also think of who really feels the full affect of such an act. Vandalism is perverse and should never occur.

Image Source: 

http://local.stv.tv/coatbridge/news/204013-signalling-problem-due-to-vandalism-disrupts-train-services/

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