Random Thought Saturday: Crazy Children

Welcome to yet another Random Thought Saturday! This is where I 'discuss' and write about things that would not normally take up a whole blog post. Sometimes my thoughts are more connected and so the post has a theme while at other times the thoughts are all over the place and even I have no idea how to map them all out. Welcome to my mind. Last night I supervised at another Blue Light Disco. For those of you who do not know, a Blue Light Disco is a disco that is run by the police (there are several around Victoria and even more around Australia) and is aimed for primary school-aged children. I help out there as part of my 'Leaders of the Future' program. Anyway, at this place they sell different candy (Chocolates/Lollies) as well as Slushies which are very popular. They are so popular in fact that as they were shutting the window to the slushy machine so that the new batch had time to freeze sufficiently there was already a line of children waiting for their slushy so that they did not miss out. I was really surprised at how much these kids wanted Slushies. However, with all this sugar going around it did make it a little harder to control some of the rowdier kids (the 'cool' and 'hip' Grade 6s were not much trouble, mainly the hyperactive Preps to Grade 4). As you probably already know, Sugar + Children = one hell of a time (Maths with Daily Lukey). So basically, I spent my Friday night supervising hyperactive children, how was yours?

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/lifeandstyle/parenting/kids-health/schools-see-red-on-dangerous-food-colourings/2008/11/22/1226770801002.html

Even before the night began however, there was a fire alarm that went off. Well, it actually went off twenty minutes after the disco officially started but anyway. This meant stopping children who had just got into their 'groove' and herding (yes, like cattle) them out the door. However, once we were out the door the Firetrucks arrived so we had to herd them around the corridor and into the courtyard. What you have to realise is that there is a door that goes directly from the room the disco was in to that very same courtyard. Basically, we herded the children out, then around the front and back to the courtyard when we could have just used the door. It was a whole bunch of fun. It turns out the fire alarm was just some silly kid who 'accidentally' (even though the button is pretty high so it would be hard to accidentally press it) pressed the button. After this though the night ran pretty smoothly and I spent the last thirty to forty minutes on Jumping Castle duty. This meant counting ten kids in, waiting four minutes and then counting ten kids out. It seems pretty simple but it is not. Some kids kept wanting to sit on the steps in front of the entrance and we had to keep moving them along in case someone came flying out and kicked them in the head. However, one girl was adamant that nothing would happen to her and she would not budge. As fate would have it, a few seconds later a kids legs come shooting out of the entrance and kick her in the head. The little promptly runs of crying. You may be sensing a tone of enjoyment but do not get me wrong here, I was not enjoying a little girl getting kicked in the head. It was just a bit of fate. However, about a minute later that same girl comes back and sits in the same spot again. Guess what happens. Another kids legs come out of the entrance (what were they even doing in there?) and the little girl came out crying again. It was a lot of fun, not. However, when it was her turn to go in guess who came out a few seconds later crying because she had been "jumped on"? You guessed it, that little girl. Oh, the joys of being on Jumping Castle Duty. All in all though, the night was a lot of fun (even though I spent most of it walking aimlessly around cleaning up dropped soft drink or slushie. Aside from hyperactive and adamant children there were also many tantrums. Most of which were over not getting a slushie. Does it not annoy anyone else how good children are at throwing tantrums and getting away with it? Does it not make you want to throw a tantrum?

Seriously though, sometimes you do not know what you have got until it is gone. See you tomorrow!

A Late Post But is it Short?

So, the big question on everybody's minds tonight is whether this late post will be long or short. That is for you to decide at the end of this post. I will try to make it as long as possible but since I am writing this on my phone it takes a whole lot longer to type just a few words, let alone a few sentences. Basically, my life write now is just trying to make this post as long as possible even though it is on my phone. As it is on my phone it will not include pictures because the stupid Blogger App does not let you format the picture so it comes up very large right at the end. It is very annoying. Blogger, you should totally get on to fixing that bug. Anyway, so tonight's reason for a late post was actually because of one of my commitments for the Wyndham "Leaders of the Future" program. The commitment in question is attending the Wynbay Blue Light disco. The Blue Light disco is a disco run by Victoria Police and aimed at primary school students. Basically, I felt really tall for once. It was a nice feeling. My role was to basically supervise them and make sure that if they did anything dangerous or bad that I would stop it. I did have to stop a lot of things going on as a lot of the kids were drinking sugary drinks. As you should know, sugar and children do not mix well. The good thing was though that when I was reprimanding them I could do in a way that would not scare them or make them feel bad. It was more of a "Please Stop That" situation and because I was so tall (compared to them) they would listen. All in all, it was a great night and I can not wait to do it again.

Getting involved in the Community can lead to meeting so many new people. 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.

The Way Way Back

So tonight I attended the screening of The Way Way Back (see below for trailer) which is such a good movie. Before I go on I would just like to thank Mix 101.1 for allowing me this opportunity and for selecting my entry as one of the winners of the competition. I attended the screening at Hoyts Melbourne Central which are great (large) cinemas. The Way Way Back stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Allison Jenney among others. It's a great story of a shy 14-year-old Duncan who goes on Summer vacation with is mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Duncan has a hard time fitting in but finds an unexpected friend in Owen, the manager of the local Water Park. Along the way he also meets a girl and grows in confidence. It is a touching and relatable story and is not superficial at all. I really recommend you see it and give it a 4/5 which is a very good score. Even my 17 year-old brother enjoyed it.

I believe all the actors played their role very role. If you are not thinking of going as you believe it will be an all-comedy movie with a very superficial story line I tell you to disregard your prior knowledge. It may have actors like Steve Carell but it is still a touching and relatable story that will leave you hooked until the end. Toni Collette plays the role of Duncan's mother very well and portrays the emotions the character is going through very well. It really is one of those movies you have to go see as it has both comedy and drama which complement each other. Liam James also plays the role of Duncan exceptionally well and really does remind me of someone very awkward. Duncan is still trying to find his way around the social world and does have some elements of a socially awkward teenager. However, when he gets a job at the local Water Park his confidence increases tremendously and he you see a definite change in his persona from the beginning. In short, which I am sure I have actually said a lot above, The Way Way Back is a success that I highly recommend you go and see.

Image Source: 

http://www.digitalspy.com.au/movies/news/a493373/the-way-way-back-sam-rockwell-steve-carell-in-new-poster.html

Thanks again to Mix 101.1 for the opportunity, see you tomorrow!

The Wonders of Blogging

Blogging is a wonderful thing and there are many benefits of it that could help you at any age in life. It can help you right now or it may be a good thing for the future. Blogs can come in many different forms but I am not going to go through all that since I already did in my post about Blogs. What I failed to mention in this post is all the wonderful benefits that Blogging can bring. I did some research and have compiled a list, so let's begin!

Image Source: http://buzz.blogger.com/2010/11/welcome-google-apps-users.html

Did you know that writing Blogs and having a positive online influence can help you get a better job? In today's age it has become the norm for employers to do some internet research on a potential employee and having a positive online influence can really help you in this respect. People want to employ people with a strong, and positive, online influence as they can better help their company become like them. A Blog can also earn you enough money to live off. One such success story is of a man called Pat Flynn who wrote a blog about his feelings on architecture. Once he was laid off from his job he began to take his blog more seriously and shortly after was earning $100, 000 per year! Of course, this will not happen to everybody but it does put faith in the fact that you can use your blog to make money, even if this is just some extra money on the side while you maintain your day job. Blogging can also help you become a better writer and one day even a published author or journalist. Since the only way to really improve your writing is to continue writing a Blog is perfect! Plus, you can have people give you feedback from all over the world. This feedback can improve your writing so much that one day you might write a book or even become a journalist. Blogging really can open up many career options as well as helping you out with the one you already have. Blogs are a great way of getting your business out there and known. It really can increase awareness and sales just through a simple blog. Some companies hire a whole group of people just to work on their Blog.

Image Source: http://www.wisesyracuse.wordpress.com

Blogging can also help you gain influence in the world. Think of all those blogs dedicated to movie reviews. They had to start out small at some point and now big Hollywood Blockbusters are using their reviews in advertisements and social media. These blogs show how writing a blog can gain you influence in the world which means people are more likely to trust you and follow what you write. Also, as I said earlier, employers like people who are influential as they can make their business sky rocket. Blogging can also help you build a network with like minded people. Some blogs work along side each other or even with each other and have created strong bonds between people who would never have met otherwise. Also, some blogs can have interviews with people or the like which can mean that with every new post a new person is added to that Blogger's network. Plus, blogging is such an easy thing to do in today's age with sites like Blogger allowing you to log in with your Google Account and just start making posts. It is as simple as that with no computer programming actually needed. As you continue blogging you learn new skills along the way such as inserting links or scheduling posts. Blogs can seem like very daunting things but are actually made by some sites in such a way that most people would be able to easily use it. Blogging can also help you keep up to date with news and information around the world. For instance, if you are writing a technology blog you are keeping up to date with the latest technology and information around the world. Even general blogs can help you keep up to date as when you are searching the internet for writing inspiration you can come across articles and news that may surprise you and influence that post in some way. It can also help your readers keep up to date as well as they can learn about current events while reading their favourite blog. It really is fantastic!

Image Source: http://www.wiziq.com/course/3784-current-affairs-questions-and-answers-2012

Blogs are also great ways to connect with the people you admire. For instance you may write a blog post and tag your idol in it or tweet it out to them and the world. Then they may come across it and read it and actually enjoy it. Suddenly, they have found a connection to you and have shared your blog to all the people who follow them. It is great as suddenly you have a link to the people you have always wanted to meet or talk to. In summary, Blogs really are wonderful things and I encourage you to start one yourself. It really is quick and easy.

Blogging is a wonder of our modern world, see you tomorrow.

YouTube

YouTube, the video sharing site, has become a normal part of my day-to-day life. It's become as normal to go on YouTube a few times a day as it is to writing this Blog (Hooray for the 73rd post by the way). YouTube has over 4 million channels, with other 72 hours of video being uploaded every minute! It's no wonder it has become a part of my everyday life. Sometimes I think I go on YouTube a little too much but then I think I'm crazy because you can never have too much of something, right? Right?!

YouTube has become a place of many vibrant communities. You have the Beauty Gurus who somehow come up with some amazing video ideas each week. Then there are the Comedians (I mean, who can't laugh at at least one of Barely Political's videos) who make us laugh every week through song, movie or just pure spontaneity. The Vloggers are also a growing community to be reckoned with. There are so many Vloggers (Video Bloggers) on YouTube today and I must say that it is fascinating to watch someone go about their everyday lives. I wish life was like this (and in 3D [just kidding]). Also the Gamers always manage to find an ordinary game and turn it into the funniest ten minutes of your day. I have seen a YouTuber turn Sims and Minecraft into something absolutely hilarious, it really is amazing. Then there are also the smaller, but not to be underestimated, communities of Short Film, News, Gossip and much more which just add yet another few layers onto an already vibrant community. It is no wonder YouTube has become such a big part of my life because it has so many new videos and topics everyday, it is very hard to get bored.

May the odds be ever in your favour, 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!

Sport

Sport is a very important part of any community and can do many good things. Although sport is often associated with Fitness it is not the only thing Sport is good for. Sport can bring people together and can be the rallying point of any community. Sport can really lift a person's morale and is a great place to make friends. So Sport is not only good for improving fitness but also for many other things.

Sport is a great way to bring people together, it can even become something a community rallies around. A great example of a sport bringing millions people together would be AFL and sports like it. AFL is Australia's sport and boy are we proud of it. Americans may find it confusing but how can they talk, how is NFL any less confusing than AFL (so many acronyms). AFL brings families together and the whole country is on a break during the Grand Final. It is one of those sports you can't go a week without hearing about (when it's playing). People make an effort to come together to watch a game on the television or live at the MCG or Etihad Stadium or wherever they are playing. Australia's passion for AFL has captured the attention of some other countries around the world and has provided Australians a network to connect with others around the world. AFL, and sports like it, really do create a vibrant global culture and really does bring people together.

Sport is also a great method of making people feel happier. Even the saddest day can be fixed with some fun sport games. Of course, some people are just set out to not have a good time and so they won't. Just remember, if you think you're not going to have fun, you won't. I know yesterday it was pouring and we had sport at the end of the day. We would normally break up into the groups for sport but because it was raining we broke up into two groups of 50. One group went bowling while the other did minor games. I chose minor games because I had done bowling the year before for sport and I got a little tired of it. Minor games was actually very fun and nearly everyone really enjoyed it. The only person who didn't enjoy it was one who was complaining the whole time and did not expect themselves to have a good time. Consequentially they didn't enjoy themselves and really started to annoy me because all they did was complain. Anyway, my point is that sport can really make the darkest (or wettest) days into ones full of happiness and sunshine (metaphorical sunshine, it won't actually change the weather. Unless you live in Melbourne where we have 4 seasons in 1 day, then the weather could actually change). Sport is really a wonderful thing and causes so much happiness and community.

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!

Procrastination

I have been procrastinating a lot these holidays. We haven't got a lot of holiday homework but what we do have is big. Basically we have a Science Assignment and a Methods SAC which is basically to complete all of Chapter 5 (A Gallery of Graphs [incl. Hyperbolas and other stuff I can't remember the name of]) which will take a while. I only started today and I was even procrastinating while doing that. I admit, I have a problem.

So what was I doing instead of my work today? That's a good question with many answers. I started off the day thinking I was going to start work straight away but then I felt YouTube call to me and I got 'stuck' watching some videos. Then, when I finally got out my work I had to download something and where did I go first, Facebook of course. Now, what did I do on Facebook? Well, I played a lot of SongPop and people were online playing too so I didn't run out of matches for ages which meant I just kept playing.

I finally ran out of matches and I started my work which I did for almost an hour and a half before I stopped for Lunch. While having lunch I thought I should have a break and decided to watch just one episode of Community. However, that one episode turned into two.. and then three.. and then four. This was always because of the mindset "just one more and I'll get back to work".

Finally, I finished watching Community and went back to my work... where I proceeded to play SongPop for another 10 minutes. Finally I got into work and proceeded to work solidly until I had to get ready to go out to dinner with my family. Now I'm back and decided to continue working tomorrow. So now I am procrastinating watching Biggest Loser: The Next Generation.

Then we'll probably watch Elementary, followed by The Voice season 2 Premiere which we recorded.

Then we'll probably watch the TV week Logies which is on after The Voice which means that it is also being taped at the moment. So yeah, I can procrastinate when I don't want to. I'm actually procrastinating from procrastinating by writing this blog post at the moment. This is actually the earliest I have ever wrote a post on this blog (8:22pm) because I usually write it around 10pm but today I decided to do it earlier because I can and I'll know I'll probably forget it.

Anyway, on the Biggest Loser at the moment Rosemary (Blue) has just flipped out at the trainers (because tonight they are the ones choosing who will go home), especially Michelle, and just stormed out announcing she is going to leave but Kevin (the biggest contestant in the history of the Biggest Loser worldwide) is stuck in the middle because he doesn't want to leave but his mother is a little bit, for want of a better word, feral and is definitely not in the best mood and even if she does come back the trainers will have a hard time deciding who to vote for to send home. Interesting! Now the trainers have decided not to vote so the couple with the lowest weight loss percentage are going home. *SPOILER ALERT* It's Rosemary and Kevin's time to go home. But when they show what they look like a certain amount of time later Kevin is looking really good, so is Rosemary.

Ha-ha, I procrastinated then by writing that.

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