Is today's music turning society into a bunch of antisocial fist-pumpers with a lack of musical taste?

These guys are just sooo cool (yeaaah buddy)

Whenever I see someone out and about nowadays I never cease to be amazed by the fact that they are listening to music in one way or another, be it on an iPod, iPhone or stereo, with small iPod headphones or gigantic red Beats™. Music is taking over the world and I am becoming increasingly worried at how antisocial people are these days as a result of music becoming far more portable.

Every day when I take public transport I see numerous people bopping along to their tunes, desperately not trying to look at anyone else on the tram/train/bus. I find this quite phenomenal actually as it is interesting to think what this world would be like without portable music devices such as iPods.

Music has become a way for people to jump onto bandwagons such as Dubstep. Can the type of music one listens to impact on how they are perceived by other members of society?

It sure can, and does. For instance, if a guy listens to Justin Bieber he can practically kiss his manhood goodbye, but that’s fair enough because it’s just like listening to any other female artist, and we all know that males don’t listen to many female artists.

Wow, aren't you just so cool Dwight.

This pressure to listen to what others are listening to has become disturbing. The other day I asked someone what he was listening to on his iPod and he got very secretive and protective of his music device. This person clearly didn’t want me to look at his songs and me being the stereotypical kind of guy immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had songs by Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, One Direction, etc. stored on his iPod.

Something that might have been possible is that this particular person had in fact a taste for classics such as The Rolling Stones, Elton John, The Beatles, etc. The fact that people nowadays may be ashamed of listening to songs by bands that have sold millions of records is really quite shocking.

I believe that many people who say that they love Dubstep are probably just people who have jumped onto the bandwagon in an effort to be cool.

I am not at all ashamed to say that in my opinion Dubstep is in the category for worst types of ‘music’ in history along with rap. Dubstep really isn’t music; anyone can create a piece of Dubstep with a synthesizer and/or some other technological device. Dubstep really is just a horde of noise that has an average bpm of 140, has an emphasis on sub-bass and sounds like absolute manure.

I believe that one day the friends and decisions we make in life will be affected by the music we listen to and how we listen to it. I have heard of people going out and buying big ‘awesome’ headphones just to be able to wear them to look cool. Imagine if we all did that, we would all look like a bunch of mindless, antisocial freaks.

Music is taking over our world and it will be interesting to see how much our world changes socially as a result of new types of music emerging in the future.

Red Bull Crashed Ice - the craziest sport on the planet?

Red Bull Crashed Ice (formerly known as Ice Cross Downhill) is one of the most interesting and craziest sporting competitions I have seen in my life. It is a professional world tour competition in which some of the best and toughest ice hockey players come together in stunning environments and battle to become Crashed Ice World Champions.

Ice Cross Downhill consists of expert skaters fitted out in ice hockey gear, hurtling down ice courses up to 500 metres in length, in groups of four, shoulder to shoulder, battling it out at speeds of up to 70kh trying to cross the finish line first. 

   

The steep ice canals on which the competitors race are filled with bumps, jumps, rollers and obstacles. The courses are built within a city and twist and turn through streets, like the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, only on ice.  

The competition is very tough and fierce as only the top two racers in each race progress through to the next race. 

The events are held in a classic knockout format, with a starting lineup of 64 racers cut down to just 4 in the final. 

I have watched a few races and I must admit, I am amazed at how physically and mentally challenging the sport is. Also,  the number of spectators that each event draws is quite surprising. 

Red Bull Crashed Ice is definitely not a sport for the faint hearted, it's quick, adrenaline pumping and brutal. All this comes together nicely in beautiful picturesque environments. The race in Quebec City in Canada is set right below the Chateau Frontenac, a beautiful, majestic castle. 

The competition has been going on since 2001 and has been increasing in popularity and getting better every year. I believe that there will be many more seasons to come as more and more people discover what is a seemingly non-publicised sport. 

Why it is wrong for professional athletes to automatically become media personalities after they retire

Malthouse advertising channel seven AFL

Over the years there seems to have been an alarming increase in retired athletes becoming media personalities in one way or another, be it commentating or being "journalists". 

I don't see how former players of a certain sport can give better information about a specific sport compared to an individual that has studied that specific sport for years. The worst thing about former players becoming commentators is the quality of the language spoken.

Personally, this is a big issue in the Australian Football League. Former players seem to be given a one-way ticket to sports journalism or commentary after their retirement. Sure, most of the time the jobs are only offered to "legends" of the game, but does this really justify giving a player who probably has no detailed knowledge in journalism a job as a journalist?

Retired athletes writing articles is definitely not as worse as commentating because the articles are edited by an educated editor, so the accuracy of the language is often fairly good. Commentators have the difficult task of having to think quickly and be smart with their choice of words.

Nowadays, it is very rare to see anyone in a commentary box that has not had any prior experience playing the certain sport. This presents many problems. The "commentators" often have divided opinions on topics and there may even be a longstanding on-field rivalry that has carried on after retirement. Imagine, if commentators from the same station had arguments with each other throughout a game! 

Former players really do not add that much to a viewers experience. They may give a few insights into what a player is feeling at a particular moment, but that is it. People who study sports media and have dreams of being commentators should not miss out because of an uneducated retired player has been offered a job.

As I have touched on a little, the language is absolutely horrible, it is so inaccurate and there are so many mistakes. Plus, the heavy Australian accents which many former athletes possess drives people nuts and sounds very uneducated, but hey, they probably are uneducated.

Something that is even more frustrating is coaches that criticise the media throughout their coaching life who retire and then become a media personality.

Mick Malthouse in his coaching days.

A clear example of this is former Collingwood Magpies coach Mick Malthouse who made a name for himself by despising the media. This year he has become a part of channel seven's AFL panel of "legends" after retiring last season, what a disgrace. I really hope that players treat Malthouse how he treated the media.

In the end, former players of any sport really don't deserve to be given jobs as media personalities and journalists when there are many people who work hard all their life just for a slim chance of getting a job as either a journalist or a media personality.

Melbourne's Southern Star Observation Wheel - why bother rebuilding?

On December 20, 2008, the Southern Star Observation Wheel was opened after more than 2 years of construction and a total cost of AUD$100 million. 

The Victorian Government was ecstatic and believed that the attraction would draw approximately 1.5 million visitors a year. This spectacular structure had an estimated height of 120 metres and was sure to be spotted from anywhere in the city, drawing people from far and wide to come and visit a normally docile and isolated Docklands area. 

However, in January 2009, approximately 1 month after opening, the wheel was shut down indefinitely due to buckling and cracks found in the structure. These discoveries were initially blamed on the heat wave Melbourne experienced in the summer of 2009. After further investigation was undertaken it was announced that the cracks were not caused by the heatwave, they were caused by problems in the original design. I'm sure the developers thought that they were truly in luck to have an extreme heat wave that they could use as a scape goat, people these days. 

Reconstruction work began in January 2011, two years after the initial problems were discovered in the structure. This "marvellous" structure had been lying dormant for two years! What a waste. 

The reconstruction seemed to be coming along nicely and everything was working just right until more problems arose on November 28, 2011.

This time the developers could legitimately blame the mishap on weather, but not entirely. Facing strong winds, the restraints on the wheel came loose and the wheel started turning, causing injuries to one of the on-site workers.

There have been a lot of announcments saying that the wheel will reopen some time within the next 6 months, but to be honest with you I'd have to say that these estimates will be incorrect.

I have been seeing the wheel every week for the past 5 weeks and I have seen no progress. There are never any workers on site and it just seems to have been abandoned.

The plan to build the wheel in the first place was just plain stupid. Melbourne does not need an observation wheel, and I can assure you that it would not attract 1.5 million visitors every year. 

An addition of an observation wheel just makes Melbourne seem like it is trying to outdo cities such as London and Singapore, who both have magnificent wheels. 

This whole project has been a complete waste of money and time. Everyone would be better off if the project was terminated.

The curious case of the Australian ten cent coin

It seems that almost every day I see people spending money and finding money, in fact, I myself found money the other day at a train station, it happened to be a ten cent coin. This got me thinking, is there something special about ten cent coins? 

It is definitely the most common coin I find on the ground and in my wallet, but why? It's not like the size or colour of the ten cent coin makes it stand out from others, such as the 20 cent coin. I never cease to be amazed at the number of times a day I see people throwing away ten cent coins, just for the hell of it.

People in privileged societies take money for granted. The 5 cent coin in Australia is similar to America's penny, it really doesn't  serve a purpose. However, the 10 cent coin is a completely different story. It appears that people are underestimating the power ten cents can have on someone's life. When one looks at the production history of 5 cent coins compared to 10 cent coins made each year at the Royal Australian Mint, it seems that every year many more 5 cent coins are produced, the results are staggering. 

Here are the individual results for both 5 and 10 cent coin production from 1999 to 2009 (courtesy of the Royal Australian Mint):

·       10 cent coins	5 cent coins
·       1999: 97.1 million ·       2000: 51.1 million ·       2001: 109.4 million ·       2002: 70.3 million ·       2003: 53.6 million ·       2004: 89.1 million ·       2005: 116.7 million ·       2006: 157.1 million ·       2007: 61.1 million ·       2008: 136.0 million ·       2009: 25.3 million	·       1999: 179.5 million ·       2000: 97.4 million ·       2001: 174.6 million ·       2002: 148.8 million ·       2003: 115.1 million ·       2004: 145.3 million ·       2005: 194.3 million ·       2006: 306.5 million ·       2007: 59.0 million ·       2008: 200.2 million ·       2009: 83.9 million

Why on earth would the Royal Australian Mint produce more 5 cent coins than ten. This is a clear example of prejudice against the ten cent coin. It is of more value than the 5 cent coin, yet it seems to be of less importance.

I always see people nowadays throwing ten cent coins onto the ground for fun. That is where I come in to play. I have a very good eye for ten cent coins, it's as though if there is one on the ground, it wont be there by the time I leave the area in which it was. 

I have managed to accumulate big bucks from ten cent coins over the years. Ten cent coins have helped me fight off hunger through vending machines and have helped me with my maths, counting ten cent coins can be a very arduous process.

The case of the Australian ten cent coin is indeed very curious and is one that I will be trying to unravel for years to come.

What does the Australian ten cent coin mean to you? Comments would be greatly appreciated. 

Soccer: Gerrard's sensational hat-trick lifts Liverpool over Everton

It is very hard to beat a team that has a player with the ability to come back into a team after missing games and score a hat-trick. Well, that is exactly what Liverpool has in striker Steven Gerrard. Gerrard scored all the goals in the Merseyside Derby against Everton as his team snapped a three game losing streak, winning 3:0.

Gerrard is the first player in 20 years to score a hat-trick in a match between rivals Liverpool and Everton. What was even more impressive was the fact that he did this  in his first game back from a hamstring injury.

Gerrard opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a beautiful lob after earlier chances were missed by Liverpool's Andy Carroll and Luis Saurez. 

Gerrard completed the incredible feat with a great goal assisted by Luis Saurez and a final goal coming in stoppage time form close range. 

Draw Something, bringing out the artistic side in all of us

Recently I have been seeing people everywhere, glued to their smartphones. I was so intrigued by this discovery that I went over and spoke to someone who seemed very engaged in their phone. I decided to ask them what they were doing on their smartphone that took so much attention, hoping that they were not doing something private, like checking their emails. 

The person greeted me kindly and said, "I'm playing Draw Something". I thought the person had told me to draw something, so i asked again politely. The person playing turned their screen toward me and there it was, something that I would be seeing multiple times in the future, a strange drawing in the middle of the screen, with blue keys underneath.

The kind person explained to me how the game was played and how it is so much fun to be able to connect with friends, whilst improving one's artistic skills.

Since that day, I have become enthralled in watching friends play it on their smartphones. Everywhere I go I see people drawing pictures for friends that are not even in the same room. The game is basically a technological version of pictionary. 

One must select one of three things to draw for a friend and if the friend guesses what the drawing is, the artist and guesser receive a certain number of "coins" and can level up. 

It is really interesting to see people indulging in their artistic side, anywhere and at anytime. I am not sure if this game has been a huge success in other parts of the world, but in Australia it seems to be getting a lot of attention. 

The questions that need to be asked are: will this game/app be like Angry Birds? Will it be a huge craze for a few months and then disappear from conversations and eventually be an old, forgotten game, just like Angry Birds appears to be?

Socceroo Brett Holman signs with Aston Villa

Socceroo star player Brett Holman has signed a contract with EPL club, Aston Villa. 

he will play out the rest of the Dutch season with AZ Alkmaar, a team he has helped greatly to get to the top of the Dutch standings. He will the join Villa at the season's end.

It looks like Socceroos coach Holger Osieck knows his players very well, the coach said that Holman was good enough to play in the EPL just after his stunning performance in the 2010 World Cup. 

Holman's international experience for Australia and his time in the Champions League is what motivated Villa to pursue the young and talented Aussie. 


He has performed very well for his nation and it will be interesting to see how he goes playing against the legends of the game.

Body pulled from the Yarra River

A man's body has been pulled from the Yarra River by police after he was spotted struggling to swim. Witnesses called triple zero shortly after 5pm when they saw a man in his 30's struggling, 200ms south of Collingwood Farm in Abbotsford.

Police say the man was pulled from the water around 5.50pm by the search and rescue team after an aerial search had spotted the body. 

It is believed the man drowned but police will investigate what led to this tragedy. 

The identity of the man is unknown.