Due to the disruption of flights because of the volcano eruption, hundreds of Aussie Fanatics and other such fat, ugly and useless social retards are likely to miss the Anzac Day dawn service at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. Just devastating. Look how sad these misfits are...note that they even have their own uniforms, just like our soldiers used to - scarves, t-shirts, hoodies, headbands and beanies. (author's suggestion: never go to war without a headband)
These "Oi Oi Oi Fanatics" (yes, Anzac Day is a celebration of sport too apparently) are the same people who leave their "sacred" site looking like a rubbish dump every Anzac Day. That is after they spend the night trampling over all our fallen soldier's graves.
I'll leave it to a wonderful site i just stumbled across, Things Bogans Like to explain.
The battle of Gallipoli is celebrated by bogans across the land as one of, if not THE greatest military victory in our nation’s history. In one day – April 25 – Australian soldiers stormed the beaches at a heretofore little-known Turkish peninsula, and, without the assistance of any other soldiers from any other countries, proceeded to take significant chunks of enemy-held territory. Yes, there were significant casualties, but this merely enhances the ANZAC legend. Australians, and possibly some New Zealanders, fought hard, and proved to the rest of our WWII allies just how incredibly awesome we are at the business of making war.
Read more of that story at Things Bogans Like.
As part of the mass promotion that is Masterchef Australia Series 2, a whopping 48 page glossy magazine came with the Herald Sun on Sunday. Well, sort of 48 pages. At least 19 of the pages were advertisements. Spose they have to make money.
But they did give us the final 50 contestants of the second season. We get names, ages, occupations and state. Apparently the 50 get reduced to the top 24 after a series of challenges to test their cooking skills.
Now I'm going to put my cynical hat on (is it ever off?). Before the show even goes to air, I'm going to try to predict the final 24 contestants based solely on their limited profiles. That's right, I'm going to see if this really is about the cooking or about something else.
And by something else, i mean look, age, demographic etc. It was argued after the first season that Julie Goodwin remained in the show and won because she appealed directly to the main viewer demographic.
I'm not for a moment suggesting that i will get all 24 right. But i reckon if i can predict 16 or more, i may be onto something. Regardless, its a little but of amusement for me on a Sunday evening and maybe this is all just guesswork...
If I'm wrong well so be it - I'll happily admit to being an idiot. But if i do OK, I'll take those 24 and try my darnedest to pick the final 5.
Here are my picks for the final 24 contestants, chosen solely on name, photo, occupation, age and state:
Skye Craig
Anthony Howell
Sarah Carmichael
Amanda Cummins
Dom Corrigan
Daniel Aulsebrook
Michelle Lewis
Aaron Harvie
Kate Zahner
Marion Grasby
Jonathan Daddia
Joanne Zalm
Irmgard Kastner
Fiona Inglis
Kim McGinnis
Devon Headland
Nicki Tsonis
Adam Liaw
Jason McCloy
Jackie Neill
Philip Vakos
Jason Durward
Lacey Noakes
Alvin Quah
Update: Ok so the first show is over, and im officially an idiot. I'll go back to writing about stuff i think i have a clue on.
And the latest "scandal" and "outrage" to hit our screens courtesy of Masterchef Australia Season 2 is.....? Who knows. But you can almost rest assured that there will be something that happens which will fill the newspapers - mostly those from News Limited.
Last season we had Chris who apparently struck up a relationship with Julie, who was many years his junior. He is said to have had a girlfriend on the outside. Or was it two? Hard to remember. Then we had the allegations of cheating. And to add to it all, there were allegations that the whole show had been rigged to ensure Julie would win.
So what "scandal" will be concocted to boost the ratings this time? Could there be another love affair or secret tryst? Maybe someone will be turfed out for cheating or lying in their application. Or there could be an exclusive revelation of a criminal conviction in one of the contestant's past. We already know that judge Gary Mehigan breaks his leg on the set. But thats hardly a scandal. Or is it? Maybe he was pushed...
Whatever the scandal and outrage is, it will be sure to consume the Australia public and get us all talking. And you can bet that ACA and Today Tonight will be running story after story on the contestants. Anything to knock Network 10 and boost their own ratings in the process. Hell, I'll even bet ACA will get the alleged law breaker Ben Fordham onto the task.
And it will be all beautiful to watch. I might even write about it myself.
What do i think the scandal will be? I'm going out on a limb to predict that the winner of series 2 Masterchef Australia will be leaked prior to the final episode being screened. Masterchef episodes are actually filmed well in advance of their screening time.
NASA may have been able to keep the fake moon landing secret, but there are just too many people in the know on Masterchef. And wouldnt the other networks pay someone an absolute fortune to have the spoiler? If that occurs, I for one will be outraged.
Masterchef Series 2 starts at 7.30pm on April 19 on Network 10.
You just have to love Royal Commissions. There are few winners and often even fewer answers or solutions. But there is always a hell of a lot of blame to go around. The only people who seem to really profit from these media love fests are the lawyers.
The Black Saturday Royal Commission is no different. The lawyers have made a pretty penny from the bushfires. Some have gone so far as to say that the lawyers like Jack Rush QC and Rachel Doyle SC are personally making millions from the death of 173 people on February 7, 2009. I wont go so far as to suggest that but i can see the point of the argument.
The "outrage" and "scandal" from some quarters regarding Christine Nixon's testimony to the Commission is getting a little hard to stomach. This attack on Christine Nixon solves nothing. It is pointless and a neat diversion to an inquiry which has been running the better part of 12 months.
Whether she ate dinner or not doesn't take away from the fact that other police were in charge that night. The Commissioner cannot be in charge 24/7. That is why there are assistant commissioners and other police who take the role.
We have identified where Nixon was that evening. So what? What does that tell us, and what can we learn from that for the future? Answer? Nothing. Nothing at all. Except that a Police Commissioner in future will be reluctant to leave their post for anytime during a crisis. That's not a solution.
Even our own PM, hard working as he is, does sleep and eat. If a terrorist attack occurred in Australia at 3am, would Kevin Rudd be criticised for being asleep at the crucial moment? Would there be similar outrage to this Nixon "scandal"? In this game, probably.
The blame game which has overtaken the Royal Commission is yet another example of Australian society refusing to take responsibility for its own actions. People died in the bushfires. But is Nixon to blame for their deaths? Nobody in their right mind could argue that. Yet the mainstream media and all the shock jocks are calling for her scalp.
Whether she went to dinner is beside the point. A General in an army does delegate. Nixon did the same in those few hours. So what?
I for one think that Nixon was an outstanding Police Commissioner. Sure, she had her faults, as every one of us do. But she brought respect back to Victoria Police. And anyone who has stood firm against the highly paid head honchos of the Police Association deserves our respect.
Nobody can question Nixon's commitment in the aftermath of the fires. Her on the ground work in the days following February 7 was second to none. The survivors on the ground freely acknowledge that.
I hope she doesn't get pushed out of her job for what is a cheap (expensive) diversionary tactic in the Commission's hearings. Nixon deserves our respect and thanks. Sadly, she wont get it from Rush and Doyle who have just made another $10,000 for their day's work.
Maybe the critics are right. There is profit in death. I hope Doyle and Rush think about that as they drive home to Brighton.
Citizen journalists may have a place in society. Those on the scene of major incidents with their digital camera or mobile phone often provide excellent footage before the real journalists and camera crews arrive.
But has it gone too far? We often hear stories of people taking photos or videos of critical incidents instead of rendering assistance to people involved. And sometimes these "journalists" find some morbid fascination with distributing their unedited footage via YouTube or other social network mediums.
Its not so much about making money by selling the footage or fulfilling the public's "right to know", its more about the ego of the person behind the camera. That's something i don't get. Its the voyeuristic medium that baffles me. The citizen journalists seem more concerned with getting a good shot or video than actually caring about the incident itself.
I think our obsession with reality style TV has led us in a very disturbing direction. It says a whole lot about us as a society when we become obsessed with the lives of total strangers. This includes a strange focus on their mishaps and tragedies. But these are not public figures - these are just regular folk going about their daily lives.
The mainstream media aren't helping. Take an article in Fairfax's The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), also published in The Age in Victoria. A young mother was tragically killed when her hijbab was caught in a Go Kart she was driving. The woman sadly appears to have choked to death.
According to the SMH report, the woman "suffered severe neck and throat injuries...". It sounds truly awful and all sympathy must go to the woman's family. Yet that didn't stop the Fairfax paper calling on the public to provide them with information and images on the incident.
I'm sorry if Ive missed something, but what images could the public possibly provide of the accident that could be of appeal to the SMH or their wider audience? The story already contained one photo of police investigating the accident. Did they want photos of the deceased woman?
Information i understand. But requesting images of such a tragic accident in my opinion is taking things a big step too far.
Has Citizen Journalism gone too far? Leave a comment below.
This is the story as seen in the SMH.
What a jumpy lot we are these days. A Qatari diplomat was wrestled to the ground by air Marshall's after apparently jokingly suggesting that he was setting his shoes alight. He was thought to have been smoking a cigarette in the toilets. Yes, its pretty stupid to smoke on a plane, but it actually happens all the time.
Early reports on the incident claimed that the diplomat was foiled in his attempt to set off a shoe bomb and bring the plane down. So that of course brought the bigots out for their quick response. Without knowing any of the facts, the dickwads made it their business to be judge and jury.
I often wonder what these tossers actually do all day. Do they sit by their computers, reading the Herald Sun and Daily Telegraph websites just waiting for an opportunity to spit out their anti Muslim diatribe? The Internet is a wonderful thing. But unfortunately, anyone can use it - even retards.
This from the comments section of the Herald Sun - literally within minutes of the story breaking in brief. Click to enlarge.
Damn those pesky red wombats. I laughed anyway.
Sure, its only a small typo. But those small typos can make all the difference to a story. He's not red, he's rogue. Online news? Yeah, I'd pay for that...
Here we go again. Yet more outrage over nothing. I love it! Robin Williams has drawn fire for daring to describe Australians as English Rednecks. An "angry" Kevin Rudd said on radio that Williams should spend some time in Alabama before targeting Australia.
A few things. Williams' remarks were said in jest and he is in many cases actually right. English rednecks at times isn't a bad description of many Australians. Besides, its a funny line. Hell, i laughed. Williams is one the world's funniest comedians and probably the most underrated serious actor of our generation. But that's another story.
Rudd's response, as far as i could tell from the footage i saw was also said in jest. It didn't to me sound like an angry Rudd at all. Just a playful comeback. And that's where the matter should have ended.
But no, the media have smelt blood and want to take this further. We have now had a response from the Alabama Governor to Kevin Rudd about their fine state. Holy God. And then there are the countless comments on news sites bagging Robin Williams and America as well as defending Australia's honour.
Are we not able to take a joke in Australia? Do we really take ourselves that seriously?
Many of our own comedians make a living slagging off other countries, which includes the USA. We are so much better than everyone else apparently. How very insular of us not to be able to take a joke about Australia. We give it, we should be able to take it. Build a bridge people.
I must be getting more conservative as i get older. Ive found myself in absolute agreement with an article by Janet Albrechtsen from The Australian. In fact, with the hundreds of news articles and blog posts written about the Hey Dad "scandal", Janet Albrechtson is one of the few to speak plainly about the implications of trial by media. In the frenzy and outrage from almost every commentator, including Media Watch, Albrechtson's piece is a welcome breath of fresh air.
Its well worth a read.
As an aside, i noted some comments on a previous post regarding Media Watch and their critique of the Hey Dad saga. I find myself in agreement. I was seriously disappointed in the fact that Media Watch and host Jonathon Holmes thought it appropriate to effectively endorse chequebook journalism. Believe it or not, Media Watch actually supported A Current Affair and Woman's Day exposing this story before statements were made to police. They did so with the view that such exposes are necessary basically because they believe the police aren't in a position to investigate without them. Hogwash.
You would normally expect Media Watch to slam shows like ACA for foot in door, one sided stories. Not in this case. Instead they have forgone their usual criticism of tabloid journalism to actually form an opinion on the subject matter. Yes, Jonathon Holmes expressed an opinion on the guilt or innocence of the accused. That's odd and certainly not what we have come to expect from the one program that can and should hold the media to account.
I'm sorry to say, i also wont be tuning in to Media Watch again. That's a big thing for me - apart from a brief hiatus while Paul Barry was heading up the show, Ive been watching since the early days of Stuart Littlemore. I suppose I'll have an extra 15 mins up my sleeve every week. Whatever will i do with all that time?
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