An abundance of Olympic memes already making an impact on Facebook

An Olympic Meme taken from Facebook.com

Before the dust had even settled on the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 London Olympic Games meme makers were well and truly doing what they do best, turning seemingly formal occasions into comical moments with clever captioning of images.

Memes are turning life into a series of comedic stories with their creativity and originality. Already several pages have been created to look at the lighter side of the Olympic Games, through pictures of true events with funny captions. However, the meme marketplace is not for everyone, it takes true creativity and quick thinking to be able to create a meme. It is incredibly surprising how many pages and communities there are on Facebook that advertise memes, allowing anyone with an idea to contribute to a page.

Feedback is probably one of the most important things that a meme maker can receive. It tells them about what others think about their work and can of course be both negative and positive. Memes are designed to make fun of events and people, yet can also have negative impacts for many people. Racist and sexist memes do appear on pages every now and then, putting the art of meme making into disrepute.

The people who make the pages on which the memes appear often do not tolerate memes representing others in a negative light. So memes really are just a way for people to come together online and reflect on events positively and with humour.

The fact that Olympic memes are already appearing on Facebook is no surprise, with tens of thousands of followers on different meme pages, looking for a laugh about what is arguably the most serious sporting event on Earth. There have already been many memes made about the Opening Ceremony, mostly concerning the Queen and her skydiving antics as well as her lack of ability to show any interest or excitement during the Ceremony. These memes will continue to grow in numbers and are becoming a huge part of Facebook and other social media sites, perhaps an opportunity knocks for people to one day make some money from these memes.

Olympics 2012: Michael Phelps dissappoints on Day 1

It was Michael Phelps' time to shine in the pool as he opened his Olympic campaign with the 400-metre  individual medley. Phelps was expected to dominate this race and qualify for a good lane in the 400-metre IM final. However, as the heat started and the swimmers got into a rhythm it was clear that Phelps was not dominating this race, swimming just ahead of Beijing silver-medalist Laszlo Cseh. Cseh took the lead and held it for a couple of laps before Phelps made a strong comeback in the freestyle leg to win the heat by the narrowest of margins. 

The fact that Phelps won the heat was no surprise, it was rather the time in which he won it that caused problems for him later on in the day. Phelps watched on as his qualifying time was beaten by seven other swimmers, putting him in an unfamiliar eighth lane for the final. Fellow USA countryman Ryan Lochte only just qualified for the final, finishing third fastest in his heat. However, Lochte then went on to dominate an event that he had previously won at the U.S. time trials, whilst Phelps could only manage fourth best from the outside lane, making this race the first time he had failed to medal in one of his Olympic events. Phelps was pipped at the post by Japan's Kosuke Hagino, losing the spot on the podium by 0.34 seconds. 

Phelps will be hungry to make amends in his next races after this poor performance. Meanwhile, Lochte will be hoping to keep up his impressive form throughout the Olympics. Lochte was in control right throughout the 400-metre IM final and at one stage looked as though he was going to break the world record, before slowing down on the final lap.

London 2012 Olympic Games starts with a bang

The London Olympic Games is sure to be remembered for incredible, seemingly superhuman achievements, with records set to be broken and legacies to be forged, all within the spirit of the Olympic Games. However, on Friday night in London the spotlight was well and truly on the ever-anticipated Opening Ceremony and it did not disappoint. 

The Opening Ceremony was highlighted by a classy James Bond sequence that ended spectacularly with a performer dressed as Queen Elizabeth II and James Bond parachuting out of a helicopter hovering above the stadium. In a scene that surely surprised many, Daniel Craig walked into Buckingham Palace all suited up as Bond, James Bond. He was then greeted by Queen Elizabeth II herself, before leading her to the helicopter from which professional stuntmen launched themselves before deploying parachutes. I believe it is safe to say that the world will never see something like that again.

It is hard to believe that as I write this, events are being run and medals are being won because the hype from the Ceremony is yet to subside. It was one massive party that never seemed like it was going to end and I think the organisers were aware of that, finishing proceedings rather abruptly.

Producer Danny Boyle did a great job recounting England's history, culture and humour in just 90 minutes. There were so many great parts of the night, including David Beckham, who looked more like a model for Hugo Boss in his immaculate suit, speeding along the River Thames in a speedboat. The boat sprayed colourful water behind it whilst carrying a flaming Olympic Torch, as it made it's way towards the stadium. The lighting of the cauldron may have caused some questions as young athletes hopeful to partake in the next Olympics were given the honour of collectively lighting the cauldron, many tubes which all came together to create a fancy cauldron. 

There was a comedic skit by Rowan Atkinson, playing Mr. Bean and a brilliant closing performance from Paul McCartney.

It really was a Ceremony of elegance, a true piece of theatre that will surely be remembered as one of the best yet. 

Why Determination is essential for success in life

I read all too often in newspapers, stories of teenagers going to prison, the employment figures in Australia increasing and more stories of adolescent men and women throwing their life away to drugs and alcohol.

No human with a heart can read these articles and not feel anger and hopelessness as us members of the public feel powerless and unable to help stop or at least decrease the number of people affected by these stories.

I have a strong belief that if a person does not set goals in life they will go nowhere. These people in the news who have a miserable life and turn to drugs have no hope of a successful life because they don’t know where to begin.

Goal setting is a critical part of life and needs to be encouraged and taught from an early age for every child. This is where I get to the point about determination.

Setting a goal is only the very first step in a hard and often long road to success. Determination is critical in order for a goal to be achieved, thus, anything in life that one wishes to achieve must be done through determination and calculated risks.

If no one in the world ever had imagination, determination and a goal imagine what life might be like today. What marvelous inventions may not be here today?

However, determination on it’s own is not enough, people need to have a dream, something that they can be determined to do and with that comes planning. Those who are willing to work hard to achieve a dream must make calculated decisions and take calculated risks.

Determination should automatically lie within all of us, however, there are some people in this world that have never had a chance to think freely, they are trapped and forced to obey others. Imagine if they were allowed to dream, imagine the wonderful things those people could achieve.

I believe that if people who by no means other than unfortunate circumstances were given a second chance and told that they have potential to achieve great things the world would be a much better place.

People must be taught how to believe in anything and never give up on a lifelong dream that one has.

What I really want to see is a change in people’s attitudes towards life. It shatters me when I see people living on the streets or even at work that are uninspired and have no passion for life and no dreams.

If these people believed in themselves and had the determination to achieve a goal there would be a lot more people living a happy, successful life, having achieved things that they may not have even dreamt of doing.

No one can say that they do not have any dreams or goals. Everyone must have something that they want to achieve in their life and the problem that I am seeing is that there are not enough people who have a passion and who have a goal that they are willing to work for in order to achieve.

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.