I love watching end of the world movies and thinking about what I would do if thrown into these situations. From zombies and diseases to asteroids and the four horsemen. Now it's easy to say I could survive these movies if I had the same training and resources as the hero, unfortunately I do not have the same training or resources as any of the hero's (except maybe Shawn from Shawn of the Dead). So today I thought we would explore exactly how fast I would go in an apocalypse (who knows, maybe I survive one or 2!)
Let's start with what could be the most likely apocalypse on my list - disease.
If any of you have seen the movie contagion or played the game Pandemic 2 you would know how quickly a disease or virus can travel (everywhere except Madagascar apparently, who close down their boarders anytime someone in the world so much as sneezes...). What we learn from movies and video games (obviously the most reliable source for apocalyptic facts) is that when it comes to disease the first people effected are people in airports, on public transport and in hotels. Now for those of you who are unaware, I work in a hotel and I catch public transport to and from work.
My prediction: I wouldn't be patient zero, but I believe I would be one of the first to go. Living in a busy metropolis, working in a hotel and traveling on public transport are all working against me. The best case for this would be to discover I am immune to the disease. That way I could save people without being infected myself.
Next on the most likely list is earth being hit by an asteroid.
The good news is, going off our scientific evidence as shown in movies, the asteroid will hit somewhere in the USA (either New York or LA). This is good news for me as I live in Australia (possibly the furthest country away from the USA). The key to surviving this scenario is to be up to date on the news, as a journalist this is fairly easy for me. I would have to hope that mum is home so I have access to a vehicle so we could drive into the centre of Australia. Hopefully this would be far enough that we wouldn't be effected by the earthquakes or tsunamis that follow the crash. That's best case. Worst case, the asteroid hits Sydney (they always hit a major city). If it hits Sydney then I would unfortunately still be in the impact zone, my clothing will ignite and the surrounding buildings will collapse. I don't think I could survive something like this.
My prediction: This is very much up to chance, if the asteroid hits a place far away then I will survive, if it hits closer to home I'm a goner.
Let's move into the world of fantasy and horror with one of the most popular apocalypse scenario - zombies.
Firstly we need to decide what type of zombies we are dealing with, every one knows if the zombies are awake during the day and the night then they are slow moving, however if the zombies are just night or day zombies then they are going to be fast. I'll look at if I can survive either scenario.
First - Slow walking day and night zombies.
The key to 24 hour slow zombies is to always keep moving and stay hidden. This is easy at the beginning when you have a car and petrol, however petrol will soon run out leaving your car useless. I would then have to rely on my ability to run long distance... This is the point I would die. I wish I could say I am an incredibly athletic young man, but we all know I'm a blogger (not a photoblogger, or a video blogger, just a regular every day blogger) so we can all guess I'm out of shape. I would either die of exhaustion or the zombies would catch me, where I would double die because I wouldn't be able to catch any humans to eat.
Now the fast night or day zombies.
The trick to these zombies is to go out when they are asleep or hiding and gather supplies. Which seems easy enough right? Wrong, my downfall will be my sleep talking and snoring. Now I'm not every loud, but any noise is going to attract these zombies and I'll be caught in my batman pjs and will become the most stylish of the zombies.
My predictions: I will not survive a zombie apocalypse.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that there is a scene were I would die a lot sooner than predicted. That scene would be if my dad was my get away driver... Don't get me wrong, I love my dad, and he is a brilliant driver once the car is in motion... however the problem is getting into the car. Dad (being the safe man he is) likes to make sure his car is locked any time we aren't in it. This sounds like a brilliant idea for the zombie apocalypse right? No zombies will get in the car while we are off sleeping or collecting supplies. Unfortunately dad also doesn't like to unlock the doors at the same time. He will instead unlock his door, get into the car, close his door, start to do up his seatbelt, realise no one else has gotten in the car, and then finally he will unlock the other doors. I feel like this would be certain doom in a zombie apocalypse.
And finally the apocalypse to end all apocalypses - The Apocalypse
Yes, the original apocalypse. we are talking 4 horsemen, raining fire and good christens being saved my the Lord above.
I will not survive this. I eat seafood, support gay marriage and haven't been to church since I left the high school that forced me to go.
My prediction: There is no way in hell (get it, biblical humour) that I will be surviving this apocalypse.
What have I learned from this post? I need to run more, attend more church and of course carry a bottle of hand sanitiser at all times.
Friday, 1 April 2016
Thursday, 24 March 2016
wikiHow: An Aliens Guide to Humanity
I know a lot of you out there are skeptical about the possibility of humans being invaded by aliens. But what if I told you it's possible they are already among us? Thanks to wikiHow Aliens would be able to learn how to be human and simply blend in....
How To Be Human:
This is an actual topic on wikiHow. In six simple steps (with accompanying pictures) you are able to learn the basics in blending in with the human race.
The reason I think this article particularly is directed at aliens is because of step 1... meet basic physical needs. If you are a human and you have lived long enough to google how to be human and you haven't been meeting basic physical needs, such as - Breathe Oxygen, Eat Edible Food and Drink Water, and finally Sleep - then I am going to seriously doubt the legitimacy of you being a human.
The rest of the article continues with equally great advice, get a house, make money, have social interactions, and it ends with Fall In Love.
Which brings us nicely to our next article...
How To Fall In Love (With Pictures):
This article details how to fall in love, starting with finding yourself (which admittedly is sweet).
It then goes on to talk about how you need to find the right person... but doesn't say how... So we can just jump to...
3 Ways To Pick Up A Girl In A Club:
Yes.. I'm serious, there is a wikiHow article on how to pick up at the club. However this article reads a lot like A Sociopaths Guide to Human Interaction. With gems of advice ranging from - Breech The Touch Barrier, to Stick With The Same Woman Once You've Developed Some Chemistry but don't forget to Keep Conversations Brief and Direct.
While these seem like harmless things for the alien to learn it's what they can learn after they become human that concerns me the most...
How To Become A Dictator: 10 Steps (with Pictures)
That's right, in 10 easy steps you to can learn what it takes to be a dictator!
We start with 'Personal Keys To Absolute Power' where you are reminded that in order to rise to power you have to want to rise to power. Apparently no one becomes a dictator by mistake... You also have to be self centred, charismatic and trust no more than you need to (which is kind of vague).
Once you have the 'Personal Keys To Absolute Power' it's time to learn how to actually assume power. The first step being, just take over an existing dictatorship! It can't be that hard can it? I mean you do have the Personal Keys To Absolute Power... However if you aren't successful in overthrowing a pre-established dictatorship you just have to find a country that's ripe for the taking! Wiki:How recommends countries that are going through economic hardships or famine; of course having a weak or oppressive government doesn't hurt.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the sole purpose of wikiHow is to lead an alien invasion against us.
So keep your guard up, and look for anyone who is constantly checking their phone for a list reminding them to breathe, eat and sleep.
How To Be Human:
This is an actual topic on wikiHow. In six simple steps (with accompanying pictures) you are able to learn the basics in blending in with the human race.
The reason I think this article particularly is directed at aliens is because of step 1... meet basic physical needs. If you are a human and you have lived long enough to google how to be human and you haven't been meeting basic physical needs, such as - Breathe Oxygen, Eat Edible Food and Drink Water, and finally Sleep - then I am going to seriously doubt the legitimacy of you being a human.
The rest of the article continues with equally great advice, get a house, make money, have social interactions, and it ends with Fall In Love.
Which brings us nicely to our next article...
How To Fall In Love (With Pictures):
This article details how to fall in love, starting with finding yourself (which admittedly is sweet).
It then goes on to talk about how you need to find the right person... but doesn't say how... So we can just jump to...
3 Ways To Pick Up A Girl In A Club:
Yes.. I'm serious, there is a wikiHow article on how to pick up at the club. However this article reads a lot like A Sociopaths Guide to Human Interaction. With gems of advice ranging from - Breech The Touch Barrier, to Stick With The Same Woman Once You've Developed Some Chemistry but don't forget to Keep Conversations Brief and Direct.
While these seem like harmless things for the alien to learn it's what they can learn after they become human that concerns me the most...
How To Become A Dictator: 10 Steps (with Pictures)
That's right, in 10 easy steps you to can learn what it takes to be a dictator!
We start with 'Personal Keys To Absolute Power' where you are reminded that in order to rise to power you have to want to rise to power. Apparently no one becomes a dictator by mistake... You also have to be self centred, charismatic and trust no more than you need to (which is kind of vague).
Once you have the 'Personal Keys To Absolute Power' it's time to learn how to actually assume power. The first step being, just take over an existing dictatorship! It can't be that hard can it? I mean you do have the Personal Keys To Absolute Power... However if you aren't successful in overthrowing a pre-established dictatorship you just have to find a country that's ripe for the taking! Wiki:How recommends countries that are going through economic hardships or famine; of course having a weak or oppressive government doesn't hurt.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the sole purpose of wikiHow is to lead an alien invasion against us.
So keep your guard up, and look for anyone who is constantly checking their phone for a list reminding them to breathe, eat and sleep.
Friday, 18 March 2016
The Trump Terror
It's time we talk Trump. I know a lot of people have been talking about the latest of our reality TV stars turned politician Donald Trump. Following in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Governor of California) and Jerry Springer (the Democratic Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio),Trump once again needs to try and outdo his competition by not running for something as trivial as Governor or Mayor, no, Trump needs to try and take on the big job - the President of the United States of America.
It was funny at first, don't get me wrong; he was a loud mouth buffoon making a mockery of democracy. That was until people started taking him seriously. That's when Mr Trump went from mildly entertaining to terrifying.
Things became even more terrifying as people who I know and love starting to side with Trump saying "He wasn't that bad," and "I think he might be what the USA needs." Now because these were people who I love, and I respect their opinions, I thought I would research what exactly Trump stands for and what exactly he plans to do for the USA (because let's be honest, he has never been clear on his stance when it comes to the debates.) What I discovered made me fear for the future more than the prospect of Fox doing another Fantastic Four Movie (disclaimer: watch the 2015 Fant4stic movie at your own risk).
Let's take a look at his policies -
Starting with Immigration, a hot topic at the moment as the world bands together to support the refugees spilling out of Syria, proving that the human race can pull together, ignore borders and help their fellow man... Except for Trump, who believes that. "A nation without borders is not a nation. We must build a wall on our southern border." This is taken from his official policy. Apparently Canada is fine without a wall, but he plans to build an actual wall (Anyone else picturing Berlin here?) between the USA and Mexico. Now how does the illustrious Mr Trump plan on paying for this wall? With the hardworking taxpayers money? Don't be ridiculous, he want's Mexico to pay for it! More specifically he is going to take the money that illegal immigrants are sending home so their families can afford food and shelter and use that money to build the wall. In 2013 this number was roughly 22 million dollars. This sounds like a lot of money, until you remember that Mr Trump values his own name at ten billion dollars, which is roughly 434 times the amount he is taking from these people to build his wall. This could also mean they will freeze the bank accounts of any business who employees an illegal immigrant, knowingly or not, and will reinstate the money once the employee has been fired and a "small fee" has been removed from the account to contribute towards the wall.
Then there is the "National e-verify" which is described as: "This simple messure will protect jobs for unemployed Americans." What does that even mean? It's so vague it's terrifying. How will this be implemented? There is already a serious problem with homeless Americans not being able to vote due to not having enough identification; if this 'national e-verify' goes ahead what is going to happen to americans who can't prove who they are? There simply isn't enough fact on this to do anything else but speculate, so let's move on to what is going to happen to people seeking refuge.
Will Donald Trump stand up and support fellow human beings who are fleeing from conflict and persecution? No, no he will not. Instead he will condemn any city who supports refugees by cutting funds to sanctuary cities. I hear you asking what a sanctuary city is? Well, it's any city participating in the "welcome movement" (currently 57 cities). These cities take in mass amounts of refugees who are fleeing war torn or otherwise devastated countries. Currently these cities get a federal grant to help house, educate, and rehabilitate these refugees into society. Under Trump these cities would get nothing.
He also plans to remove birthright citizenship. Currently if you are born in the USA you are a citizen (makes sense so far right?) but if Trump takes control then if your parents were illegal immigrants or even refugees and you were born in the USA you can have your citizenship revoked, despite not having any other citizenship.
That's just immigration, take a break now, go get a drink of water, have a pee, and we'll keep moving on when you return.
The scariest thing about Trump, and possibly the reason he is so popular, is that he has answers. They might be terrible, and in some cases the implications will be terrifying, but he will have answers. These answers will also be difficult for the Democratic Party to argue against. For example, let's take something that the Democrats have been fighting for since as long as I can remember, gun control.
To give you background statistics, in 2015, 1,447 people (give or take) were killed or injured through mass shootings across the USA. In Chicago alone, there have been 1,625 people shot in gang-controled areas. If the government cared about the actual number of deaths they would (as Obama is trying to do) make it harder to actually obtain these guns. Trumps answer to this, rather than restricting gun control, he will introduce a minimum jail sentence for anyone caught with an illegal firearm. Now he wants to focus mainly on the illegal guns in Chicago and Baltimore, the legal gun owners can feel free to buy as many guns as they want. But for now we will focus on Baltimore and Chicago.
Now these cities are where he wants to take good children/families out of and relocate them into better cities. Between this and sending anyone with an illegal firearm to prison, it's going to leave a lot of empty buildings. The prospect of what he might do with these buildings could be terrifying, I personally hope he is just going to make more failed condos for rich people, because an alternative is using it as a place to send any illegal immigrant that Mexico refuses to take back. And that has some truly horrifying implications (Anyone else thinking of a certain camp we saw during World War 2?).
The scariest part of all of this is that no one seems to be taking him seriously. For the longest time we was seen as a joke candidate, the one everyone wanted to watch so they could see him throw a tantrum. If he were 3 instead of 69, we would be sending him to his room for throwing said tantrum, not giving him what he wanted. We need to stop rewarding him for bad behaviour; ignore him when he lashes out, let him cry and throw his fists until he tuckers himself out. Do you really want the next president of the USA to be a misbehaving toddler in a toupee? I certainly don't.
Okay, I have made a lot of subtle (sometimes not so subtle) references to Trump being like Hitler. I'm sure this will make some people mad, because they can't bring themselves to believe anyone could be as evil as that. Well you should know that for years Trump slept with a copy of Hitler's sequel to Mien Kampf right next to his bed. This is confirmed by his ex wife who has also said he enjoyed studying and reading Hitlers speeches.
It was funny at first, don't get me wrong; he was a loud mouth buffoon making a mockery of democracy. That was until people started taking him seriously. That's when Mr Trump went from mildly entertaining to terrifying.
Things became even more terrifying as people who I know and love starting to side with Trump saying "He wasn't that bad," and "I think he might be what the USA needs." Now because these were people who I love, and I respect their opinions, I thought I would research what exactly Trump stands for and what exactly he plans to do for the USA (because let's be honest, he has never been clear on his stance when it comes to the debates.) What I discovered made me fear for the future more than the prospect of Fox doing another Fantastic Four Movie (disclaimer: watch the 2015 Fant4stic movie at your own risk).
Let's take a look at his policies -
Starting with Immigration, a hot topic at the moment as the world bands together to support the refugees spilling out of Syria, proving that the human race can pull together, ignore borders and help their fellow man... Except for Trump, who believes that. "A nation without borders is not a nation. We must build a wall on our southern border." This is taken from his official policy. Apparently Canada is fine without a wall, but he plans to build an actual wall (Anyone else picturing Berlin here?) between the USA and Mexico. Now how does the illustrious Mr Trump plan on paying for this wall? With the hardworking taxpayers money? Don't be ridiculous, he want's Mexico to pay for it! More specifically he is going to take the money that illegal immigrants are sending home so their families can afford food and shelter and use that money to build the wall. In 2013 this number was roughly 22 million dollars. This sounds like a lot of money, until you remember that Mr Trump values his own name at ten billion dollars, which is roughly 434 times the amount he is taking from these people to build his wall. This could also mean they will freeze the bank accounts of any business who employees an illegal immigrant, knowingly or not, and will reinstate the money once the employee has been fired and a "small fee" has been removed from the account to contribute towards the wall.
Then there is the "National e-verify" which is described as: "This simple messure will protect jobs for unemployed Americans." What does that even mean? It's so vague it's terrifying. How will this be implemented? There is already a serious problem with homeless Americans not being able to vote due to not having enough identification; if this 'national e-verify' goes ahead what is going to happen to americans who can't prove who they are? There simply isn't enough fact on this to do anything else but speculate, so let's move on to what is going to happen to people seeking refuge.
Will Donald Trump stand up and support fellow human beings who are fleeing from conflict and persecution? No, no he will not. Instead he will condemn any city who supports refugees by cutting funds to sanctuary cities. I hear you asking what a sanctuary city is? Well, it's any city participating in the "welcome movement" (currently 57 cities). These cities take in mass amounts of refugees who are fleeing war torn or otherwise devastated countries. Currently these cities get a federal grant to help house, educate, and rehabilitate these refugees into society. Under Trump these cities would get nothing.
He also plans to remove birthright citizenship. Currently if you are born in the USA you are a citizen (makes sense so far right?) but if Trump takes control then if your parents were illegal immigrants or even refugees and you were born in the USA you can have your citizenship revoked, despite not having any other citizenship.
That's just immigration, take a break now, go get a drink of water, have a pee, and we'll keep moving on when you return.
The scariest thing about Trump, and possibly the reason he is so popular, is that he has answers. They might be terrible, and in some cases the implications will be terrifying, but he will have answers. These answers will also be difficult for the Democratic Party to argue against. For example, let's take something that the Democrats have been fighting for since as long as I can remember, gun control.
To give you background statistics, in 2015, 1,447 people (give or take) were killed or injured through mass shootings across the USA. In Chicago alone, there have been 1,625 people shot in gang-controled areas. If the government cared about the actual number of deaths they would (as Obama is trying to do) make it harder to actually obtain these guns. Trumps answer to this, rather than restricting gun control, he will introduce a minimum jail sentence for anyone caught with an illegal firearm. Now he wants to focus mainly on the illegal guns in Chicago and Baltimore, the legal gun owners can feel free to buy as many guns as they want. But for now we will focus on Baltimore and Chicago.
Now these cities are where he wants to take good children/families out of and relocate them into better cities. Between this and sending anyone with an illegal firearm to prison, it's going to leave a lot of empty buildings. The prospect of what he might do with these buildings could be terrifying, I personally hope he is just going to make more failed condos for rich people, because an alternative is using it as a place to send any illegal immigrant that Mexico refuses to take back. And that has some truly horrifying implications (Anyone else thinking of a certain camp we saw during World War 2?).
The scariest part of all of this is that no one seems to be taking him seriously. For the longest time we was seen as a joke candidate, the one everyone wanted to watch so they could see him throw a tantrum. If he were 3 instead of 69, we would be sending him to his room for throwing said tantrum, not giving him what he wanted. We need to stop rewarding him for bad behaviour; ignore him when he lashes out, let him cry and throw his fists until he tuckers himself out. Do you really want the next president of the USA to be a misbehaving toddler in a toupee? I certainly don't.
Okay, I have made a lot of subtle (sometimes not so subtle) references to Trump being like Hitler. I'm sure this will make some people mad, because they can't bring themselves to believe anyone could be as evil as that. Well you should know that for years Trump slept with a copy of Hitler's sequel to Mien Kampf right next to his bed. This is confirmed by his ex wife who has also said he enjoyed studying and reading Hitlers speeches.
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Madonna, Your Fans Deserve Better
Dear Madonna,
We can all respect that in your prime you were the pop princess of the '80s, however I feel like I need to remind you that it is no longer the '80s and you are no longer the pop princess you once were. Yes you still have fans, and yes they still love you. But having been 2 hours late to the stage here in Brisbane (4 hours late to another show), I have to wonder why they still have so much respect for you? I did some research and apparently you lost quite a lot of respect from your fans during this tour. Turns out saying "bitch I'm Madonna" doesn't have the same effect when you're 57 (soon to be 58) in 2016, when your fans have careers and families, oh and not to mention it was the middle of the working week. You may have a 'Rebel Heart' but that doesn't excuse the blatant disrespect you have for your fans, for the music industry, and for the people working with you. No one minds a late night, but if you're going to perform late, how about you don't advertise your show to start at 9pm? Okay, maybe you didn't have a choice in when the show started; but just like every other person with a job, when your boss says you have to show up at a certain time, you show up at that certain time. I won't get into the allegations that you were drunk, or even that you were lip-syncing the show, that would be petty.
I understand that sometimes things go wrong and you can't help but come on stage late. These things happen, we get it. However, this is not a one off. As far as my research shows, you haven't been on time once this tour (for Australia and New Zealand).
Madonna, it's time to start taking some responsibility. Because, and I'm sorry to say this but, you just aren't all that any more and your fans deserve more than what you gave them.
I hope we can see some changes for the rest of the tour.
Best Wishes
The World
We can all respect that in your prime you were the pop princess of the '80s, however I feel like I need to remind you that it is no longer the '80s and you are no longer the pop princess you once were. Yes you still have fans, and yes they still love you. But having been 2 hours late to the stage here in Brisbane (4 hours late to another show), I have to wonder why they still have so much respect for you? I did some research and apparently you lost quite a lot of respect from your fans during this tour. Turns out saying "bitch I'm Madonna" doesn't have the same effect when you're 57 (soon to be 58) in 2016, when your fans have careers and families, oh and not to mention it was the middle of the working week. You may have a 'Rebel Heart' but that doesn't excuse the blatant disrespect you have for your fans, for the music industry, and for the people working with you. No one minds a late night, but if you're going to perform late, how about you don't advertise your show to start at 9pm? Okay, maybe you didn't have a choice in when the show started; but just like every other person with a job, when your boss says you have to show up at a certain time, you show up at that certain time. I won't get into the allegations that you were drunk, or even that you were lip-syncing the show, that would be petty.
I understand that sometimes things go wrong and you can't help but come on stage late. These things happen, we get it. However, this is not a one off. As far as my research shows, you haven't been on time once this tour (for Australia and New Zealand).
Madonna, it's time to start taking some responsibility. Because, and I'm sorry to say this but, you just aren't all that any more and your fans deserve more than what you gave them.
I hope we can see some changes for the rest of the tour.
Best Wishes
The World
Monday, 23 November 2015
Dear Adele and Drake
Adele and Drake have both recently released songs that almost broke the internet. I won't get into which song I like more or which is a better song (although those of you who know me personally will probably guess which one I belt out in the car and which one I can't stand listening to.)
What I am going to do, is delve into what these songs are about because I disagree with the message. Here is my open letter to Adele and Drake.
Dear Adele and Drake,
It's time to move on, you left your ex behind. You can't get sad now that you've come back years later to discover they have moved on with their lives. I understand that you were hoping you could take off right where you left off, but it's selfish of you to now make your ex feel bad, through the power of music, for living their lives.
I would like to speak to you individually now, starting with Drake. Drake man, you're getting to a creepy stalker level. Don't follow your ex to the club, don't worry if she has champagne out on the dance floor. Looking at your lyrics I am beginning to believe that you never actually dated this girl... was she just a late night booty call? Because if that is the case you need to move on man. You left the city, you have made that perfectly clear, so don't worry about what this girl is up to or who she is hanging with. I get you care about her, but don't get made that she is filling up pages in her passport or hanging with some girls you never seen before. It sounds like you left your booty call, and she has made some new friends and gone travelling, Drake you could learn a thing or two from this girl, go and live your life and make some new friends.
Adele, I can understand your perspective a little more than Drakes (again Drake, don't be a creepy stalker following her to the dance floor). All you wanted to do was apologise about how you left things when you did leave. In a way, I think you are just after some closure, to make sure they did go on and live their life. This would be fine, if not for you passive aggressive line of "But it don't matter, clearly, it doesn't tear you apart anymore." Adele, that's not okay. Don't make this ex of yours feel bad because they moved on and were able to heal the wounds of their past. You have the power to make people miss ex's they never even had. You need to use this power for good, not for passive aggressive making your ex that you left feel bad for healing and moving on. I understand he didn't take your call and so you had no option but to give a message through song, but maybe you could have had a chorus that went...
"Hello from the outside,
I'm glad to see that you have tried
To move on, and I'm happy
For you, and all that you've done, so be proud"
It's not perfect I know, but you can work on it.
I wish you both happiness in your future love endeavours, maybe you could call each other? Just try to be less passive aggressive (Adele), and a little less stalkery (Drake).
Love
Darcy
What I am going to do, is delve into what these songs are about because I disagree with the message. Here is my open letter to Adele and Drake.
Dear Adele and Drake,
It's time to move on, you left your ex behind. You can't get sad now that you've come back years later to discover they have moved on with their lives. I understand that you were hoping you could take off right where you left off, but it's selfish of you to now make your ex feel bad, through the power of music, for living their lives.
I would like to speak to you individually now, starting with Drake. Drake man, you're getting to a creepy stalker level. Don't follow your ex to the club, don't worry if she has champagne out on the dance floor. Looking at your lyrics I am beginning to believe that you never actually dated this girl... was she just a late night booty call? Because if that is the case you need to move on man. You left the city, you have made that perfectly clear, so don't worry about what this girl is up to or who she is hanging with. I get you care about her, but don't get made that she is filling up pages in her passport or hanging with some girls you never seen before. It sounds like you left your booty call, and she has made some new friends and gone travelling, Drake you could learn a thing or two from this girl, go and live your life and make some new friends.
Adele, I can understand your perspective a little more than Drakes (again Drake, don't be a creepy stalker following her to the dance floor). All you wanted to do was apologise about how you left things when you did leave. In a way, I think you are just after some closure, to make sure they did go on and live their life. This would be fine, if not for you passive aggressive line of "But it don't matter, clearly, it doesn't tear you apart anymore." Adele, that's not okay. Don't make this ex of yours feel bad because they moved on and were able to heal the wounds of their past. You have the power to make people miss ex's they never even had. You need to use this power for good, not for passive aggressive making your ex that you left feel bad for healing and moving on. I understand he didn't take your call and so you had no option but to give a message through song, but maybe you could have had a chorus that went...
"Hello from the outside,
I'm glad to see that you have tried
To move on, and I'm happy
For you, and all that you've done, so be proud"
It's not perfect I know, but you can work on it.
I wish you both happiness in your future love endeavours, maybe you could call each other? Just try to be less passive aggressive (Adele), and a little less stalkery (Drake).
Love
Darcy
Sunday, 15 November 2015
The Reactions to Paris
A tragedy rocked the world this week when several attacks were made in Paris, with over 120 deaths and over 300 injured it's a time for mourning. Yet this wasn't the over all reaction that spread across my Facebook page. There was a lot of anger.
The first thing that surprised me was the anger towards the hashtag Pray For Paris. I saw posts saying "Why would you pray to a God who did nothing to prevent the attacks" and "praying won't solve anything, why don't you all do something useful instead."
I understand that religion isn't something that everybody believes in, but who are you to say that the coping mechanisms for other people are wrong? How do we know that there aren't families who have been effected by these attacks who want people praying for them?
You shouldn't be putting people down for doing what they believe is the right thing, yes by all means encourage people to help in other ways. But nothing gives you the right to belittle another persons belief.
The second thing I noticed were people getting mad that people were upset about the attacks on Paris. I know this seems beyond foolish, but it is happening. People are saying that we shouldn't care about Paris because of attacks that had happened earlier in the week in Lebanon. They claimed that the media was brainwashing us by not reporting on these attacks. This got me a little upset firstly, do not negate the pain people are feeling about Paris because of another tragedy, the reason that this particular attack would be in your news feed and not the Lebanon attack is that it is more likely for your loved ones to have loved ones in Paris at the time rather than in Lebanon. This doesn't mean one was a greater tragedy than the other, it just means you have a predominately Western newsfeed. The other point about the media is wrong as well. A quick google search showed that every reputable news site had reported on the Lebanon attacks, from local community news such as 4zzz, through to National news with ABC and international news with the BBC. I don't believe shows such as A Current Affair and Today Tonight would have reported on it because it was fear mongering enough for them. So don't blame the media if you aren't getting information, you need to expand the places you get your information from and decide for yourself which news sites and shows are the best.
And thirdly, and this is what terrifies me the most, is the threatening backlash on the Muslim community. Thankfully no one on my personal news feed has been blaming the Muslim community for the attacks in paris, but I have seen that channel 7 has once again given well known racist bigot Pauline Hanson a platform to inject fear into the hearts of Australia. She tried to blame the refugees who are fleeing this very conflict for being the ones behind the attack. I personally believe we need to stop giving her any more attention.
Martin Luther King Jnr once said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
This should not be a time to let hatred sit in our hearts for anyone. I know that in a situation like this, it's hard not to let the fear turn into hatred. As Yoda once said "Fears leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." So let's not allow this fear to turn into anger or hate, instead cast your love out into the world, acknowledge those who are trying to do the same, and only then will we see real change.
My prayers go out to anyone who is in need of them, along with my love and support for anyone who needs it in this time.
The first thing that surprised me was the anger towards the hashtag Pray For Paris. I saw posts saying "Why would you pray to a God who did nothing to prevent the attacks" and "praying won't solve anything, why don't you all do something useful instead."
I understand that religion isn't something that everybody believes in, but who are you to say that the coping mechanisms for other people are wrong? How do we know that there aren't families who have been effected by these attacks who want people praying for them?
You shouldn't be putting people down for doing what they believe is the right thing, yes by all means encourage people to help in other ways. But nothing gives you the right to belittle another persons belief.
The second thing I noticed were people getting mad that people were upset about the attacks on Paris. I know this seems beyond foolish, but it is happening. People are saying that we shouldn't care about Paris because of attacks that had happened earlier in the week in Lebanon. They claimed that the media was brainwashing us by not reporting on these attacks. This got me a little upset firstly, do not negate the pain people are feeling about Paris because of another tragedy, the reason that this particular attack would be in your news feed and not the Lebanon attack is that it is more likely for your loved ones to have loved ones in Paris at the time rather than in Lebanon. This doesn't mean one was a greater tragedy than the other, it just means you have a predominately Western newsfeed. The other point about the media is wrong as well. A quick google search showed that every reputable news site had reported on the Lebanon attacks, from local community news such as 4zzz, through to National news with ABC and international news with the BBC. I don't believe shows such as A Current Affair and Today Tonight would have reported on it because it was fear mongering enough for them. So don't blame the media if you aren't getting information, you need to expand the places you get your information from and decide for yourself which news sites and shows are the best.
And thirdly, and this is what terrifies me the most, is the threatening backlash on the Muslim community. Thankfully no one on my personal news feed has been blaming the Muslim community for the attacks in paris, but I have seen that channel 7 has once again given well known racist bigot Pauline Hanson a platform to inject fear into the hearts of Australia. She tried to blame the refugees who are fleeing this very conflict for being the ones behind the attack. I personally believe we need to stop giving her any more attention.
Martin Luther King Jnr once said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
This should not be a time to let hatred sit in our hearts for anyone. I know that in a situation like this, it's hard not to let the fear turn into hatred. As Yoda once said "Fears leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." So let's not allow this fear to turn into anger or hate, instead cast your love out into the world, acknowledge those who are trying to do the same, and only then will we see real change.
My prayers go out to anyone who is in need of them, along with my love and support for anyone who needs it in this time.
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Advice For My Brother
Today my brother finishes a major chapter in the book of life and is about to embark on a new journey. That's right, today is his final day of classes for high school. As the older, wiser, and I assume better looking brother, it is up to me to pass on some advice to my little, yet taller, brother.
My first piece of advice: Embrace your weirdness.
I think our baby brother does this the best, he doesn't care what people think. Has he been wearing the same clothes all week? You bet he has! Does he care that you think it's gross? Not even a little bit! You can learn a lot from him. People will always try and put you down for not conforming to the norm, but you can't let these people who are too afraid to branch out effect how you live your life. Go out and wear weird glasses, and watch cartoons, embrace your weird and do what makes you happy.
This leads to my next piece of advice: If something is worth doing it will be hard.
As much as I wish it were untrue, you will need to work hard at what you love. I know the saying "if you do what you love then you will never work a day in your life" that is BS. You have to accept that somedays are going to be hard, and that's okay because it means you are doing something worthwhile. You will have days that you are loving what you're doing and it won't feel like work, but you will have days that you question why you thought it was a good idea in the first place, but remember, if it's what you love then you can push through the bad days.
Let mom and dad help you.
This is a hard lesson to learn, and I know that at 17 you pretty much know all you need to know about life... however, I promise that mom and dad still have some wisdom to pass on. And trust me, I know that at times it will feel more like a lecture than passing on advice, but if you can learn to listen to them and take on board the advice they have for you I promise that you will be able to achieve everything you imagined in life and more.
Don't forget to let them in to your life as well.
I will admit that I'm not great at doing this, I forget to tell them things, and I am terrible at remembering details. But mom and dad love you more than you can realise, and they don't want to judge, or criticise or even be physically involved, they just like to know that you are safe and happy.
My final piece of advice: Never lose your sense of humour.
I don't think there has been a day this year where I haven't been with you and laughed, yes some times I'm laughing at you, but I still laugh. Even when I'm laughing at you you have this amazing ability to roll with the joke and make it yours. I don't know if you realise how important this skill is for life. Being able to laugh at yourself and being able to make other people laugh is truly a gift to the world. So never let anyone take your sense of humour, it's perfect the way it is.
Sean, you will be able to achieve anything you want in this life, so go out and live it. Never be afraid of what people think. And because I don't say this enough, I love you Sean.
My first piece of advice: Embrace your weirdness.
I think our baby brother does this the best, he doesn't care what people think. Has he been wearing the same clothes all week? You bet he has! Does he care that you think it's gross? Not even a little bit! You can learn a lot from him. People will always try and put you down for not conforming to the norm, but you can't let these people who are too afraid to branch out effect how you live your life. Go out and wear weird glasses, and watch cartoons, embrace your weird and do what makes you happy.
This leads to my next piece of advice: If something is worth doing it will be hard.
As much as I wish it were untrue, you will need to work hard at what you love. I know the saying "if you do what you love then you will never work a day in your life" that is BS. You have to accept that somedays are going to be hard, and that's okay because it means you are doing something worthwhile. You will have days that you are loving what you're doing and it won't feel like work, but you will have days that you question why you thought it was a good idea in the first place, but remember, if it's what you love then you can push through the bad days.
Let mom and dad help you.
This is a hard lesson to learn, and I know that at 17 you pretty much know all you need to know about life... however, I promise that mom and dad still have some wisdom to pass on. And trust me, I know that at times it will feel more like a lecture than passing on advice, but if you can learn to listen to them and take on board the advice they have for you I promise that you will be able to achieve everything you imagined in life and more.
Don't forget to let them in to your life as well.
I will admit that I'm not great at doing this, I forget to tell them things, and I am terrible at remembering details. But mom and dad love you more than you can realise, and they don't want to judge, or criticise or even be physically involved, they just like to know that you are safe and happy.
My final piece of advice: Never lose your sense of humour.
I don't think there has been a day this year where I haven't been with you and laughed, yes some times I'm laughing at you, but I still laugh. Even when I'm laughing at you you have this amazing ability to roll with the joke and make it yours. I don't know if you realise how important this skill is for life. Being able to laugh at yourself and being able to make other people laugh is truly a gift to the world. So never let anyone take your sense of humour, it's perfect the way it is.
Sean, you will be able to achieve anything you want in this life, so go out and live it. Never be afraid of what people think. And because I don't say this enough, I love you Sean.
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