My Experience in Australia Pt.2

My Experience in Australia Pt.2

It all comes down to poor judgment and even the political side of dealing with it. The decision makers, the Upper-Class and the difference in power – it’s all so obvious in society but yet we struggle to see it. Blinded and blocked by media dominance and intensive lies and rebates over what is real or false, we depend on news channels and other outlets to know about the world. That’s worldwide, but for Perth (and maybe even Australia), the stories are cut even more.

An example can be the whole Anti-Whaling Campaign that Australia took up with a big smile and grin to reveal its apparent colours for environmental beautification and conservation. I don’t believe many people knew that Whaling in Australia only ended in the 1970s, and suddenly the country can become the biggest foe to it? It doesn’t make sense, and that’s another immediate impression I had of this country. It is driven by the media, driven by those who can make fake a hard cold reality. This leads back to how multiculturalism has been blocked out completely, and it is laughable at how the Australian Government chooses to describe it and write about it like some scripture.

The Policy is hilarious and in fact completely over-ridden by the usual Australian dominance, and words claiming the country is in fact multicultural. Principle 1 reads: “The Australian Government Celebrates and values the benefits of cultural diversity for all Australians, within the broader aims of national unity, community harmony and maintenance of our democratic (??) values.

See those bolded letters? That’s done on purpose so that you readers might be able to see it clearly. How can something by multicultural if only mentions a single nation of people, here by name: AUSTRALIANS. I have an Australian passport due to some ancestry I had no idea I had, but that does not make me Australian culturally but instead just another number in the system by law and policy. “National Unity”, but Australia is an isolated mass in the middle of the ocean in South-East Asia! “INTERNATIONAL unity” would be more fitted wouldn’t it? Unless the policy is stating that all non-Australians cannot immerse themselves in society and the democratic values.

Principle 2 continues this growing trend, reading: “The Australian Government is committed to a just, inclusive and socially cohesive society where everybody (??) can participate in the opportunities that Australia offers and where government services are responses to the needs of Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.”

Everybody can participate? Well how about the Boat People? Their being kicked off Australia before they even reach the shores and these peoples aren’t just nobody’s. They bring cultural backgrounds of worlds many Australians can’t even imagine or think about. In fact they are taken to Christmas Island, it really is just a massive prison, where they are SEGREGATED from Australian society and watched as if they are some terrorists. They fled from oppression, and they aren’t even taken into consideration before they are left on an island in the middle of the ocean awaiting the stroke of luck that the Government will come for them.

This is a huge issue, and I find the multiculturalism and its policies a clear joke in terms of opening the door for new cultures. People here don’t embrace new cultures and backgrounds, and it’s because the Government isn’t strict on it. I feel the pressure every time I enter the public realms and domains, it is real pressure. The pressure to become something in this country or else you are washed into the dominion of nothingness of Australia…

Here is Australia’s Multiculturalism Policy: http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/pdf_doc/people-of-australia-multicultural-policy-booklet.pdf

My Experience in Australia Pt.1

My Experience in Australia Pt. 1

Firstly, this is ‘my’ own experience of arriving in Australia and living here as a full citizen but from an Asian racial background but with no knowledge of actually growing up in the Eastern World. People like to segregate and place individuals or groups into specific categories in order to have a general definition of them, and this leads to stereotypes. It is the world’s laziness to look into everybody as an individual and to begin defining sets of people without truly caring or wanting to know about them.

From first impressions, I look like any washed up Asian from a faraway land which is realistically only two or three hours off the border of Australia. People can’t tell the difference, and so I get placed into the category of segregation. I had a very judgmental impression of Australia before I arrived in 2008, and it is easy to look back into its relatively short history and realize where such anti-multiculturalist views come from. White supremacy bleeds through history, and it dominates truly without much oppression whatsoever. I’m not a believer in race, but in saying that always makes me blind because its reality. It is reality that people look at skin tone, accents, skin colour and even language and they will judged religiously on those factors. Ignoring that reality is already pushing away what you must watch out for. I used to ignore it all, but that only made me more blind and incorrect. Race may not be right, or the idea of it, but it exists and is a real world issue that strikes people down constantly.

My experience is not ‘the’ experience, it is one that is truly my own and it differs for everyone who comes here from another country. I was immediately placed into the ‘Asian’ category in society, at schools or even at any fitness clubs. You get the looks, but the difference is that I expected such things to happen. It’s a no-brainer and anyone coming from a background that isn’t White would instantly know what to expect when entering such a Westernized country. You get the immediate ignorance upon customs at the airport, people don’t look at you with interest but one of pure boredom. That is an assumption my readers, a hard cruel assumption because I don’t really know. But the atmosphere is different, and the air is more futile and twisted.

My first experience of entering school was the questions, they were so stupid and unordinary and were immediately ignorant. Asking me about apparent ‘typical’ Asian traits of “do you drift like in Tokyo Drift?” or “Are you good at math?” or “Can you do Kung Foo?”

Don’t get me wrong, you hear tripe like this all over the world and most people will make jokes about it. Most Asian’s won’t even care about it, but its growing and it becomes a lot more personal and violent. The older a person gets, the more they learn about a race and the stereotypes surrounding it all. You get statistics about the huge suicide rates in Tokyo, how apparently poor the pass rate is on Asian driving tests or the apparent ‘gangster’ or ‘hipster’ lifestyle that younger Asians tend to live in. You get SEGREGATED, and it’s so obvious.

I’ve been flying this flag for a few years now, and it only gets higher everyday with the amount of ignorance I receive myself. I don’t speak for Asians as a whole, but my own experience. I want to get that point across, that I speak for me ALONE.

The day that hits me the most as completely ignorant, here in Australia, is the idea of Australia Day. A celebration of colonization? I’ve blogged about this idea in the past, but here’s another small summary of it. You aren’t celebrating the idea of being Australian because people who may be Australian by law don’t feel the same love as the country feels. Australia is seen, to most of the Eastern World, as a safe haven from conflict and persecution because of our apparent democratic values that are so twisted that they aren’t really free. Freedom of Speech is taken for granted here, but overseas it is seen as a miracle. Even in Singapore you cannot speak against the Government, and Conscription still exists there. But wait…I just remembered, Australia has no idea what Communism and Conscription is.

On Australia Day, I fear for everything because the values are so nationalistic and mentally scary. For me personally, I feel like a victim, and like a target is placed on my head because of nationalism values which I of course oppose. Multiculturalism is now a huge factor in Australian politics, but yet because of our ‘freedom’ people can easily ignore it. Place up bumper stickers of “You Don’t Like Australia, then Fuck Off” Oh we see it all the time, I see it all the time and its funny because Australian’s aren’t even from here anyway. This Aboriginal land, and nothing can take that away because its fact.

This is a rant, and that is obvious. It gets the blood pumping in my body and the violence rising in my mind, but this is a small segment of my Australian experience so far. If you are offended by this, then you have my apologies but this is my OWN experience and I CANNOT speak for anyone else.

If you are wondering…I still live in Australia to this day..

A Quick Experience...#4

How do you react when something amazing happens? But not just anything out of the ordinary, I mean like truly something beyond the weight of the world. Everything changes, and something pushes you further into unexplored territory.

Curiously, my life has been changed around in a blink of an eye. You meet people, you can read things or even listen to a single note of a song and things can change for you. I have always wondered why this is the case, and how on earth our mind and be watered down so easily to become so receptive and obvious to these things.

It can be looking at star signs, superstitious rights and ideas but at the end you change almost automatically. This experience has brought up research and a variety of opinions into it, but at the base of it all - our minds are always learning and always receiving.

I believe the reason why our own unique world, individually, changes so frequently (for better or worse) is because of how we become weak to hearing things. From the happiest memory to a traumatic incident where you are buckled over in pain and confusion, it has happened to the best of us at the worst of times.

This happened to me, but you learn from such events. I just hope soon solutions come for those who fall in battle to find the reason why...

Linkin Park - Living Things Review

Linkin Park - LIVING THINGS 2012


Bands change over a period of time, leading from a usual raw and explosive début to a more relaxed and recognizable long-term sound. However, for Linkin Park, it is argued that this usual cycle of Award-winning Bands and Musical Groups is severely ruined and re-written.

Living Things is the fifth Linkin Park album since their début of Hybrid Theory in 2000, bringing back the power of loud guitars, strong melodies and telling lyrics. A very personal album reveals itself through similar territory whilst also grabbing the attention that A Thousand Suns managed to give out upon release.

"Lost In The Echo" harks back instantly to the sounds of Meteora with the traditional rap-verse, anthemic-chorus and screaming bridge drawing long-term fans close. Following with a more expected "In My Remains" the familiarity with Minutes to Midnight is truly eclipsed and Chester's dominating vocals sounding refreshed and revitalised. The album is very loud and grabs you in a different way that explains Linkin Park is nearby, but in a new place.

"Burn It Down" was released before the official album as the first single, and brought a direct rock song with a strong melody and electronic sounds squeezed in with the warmth of Brad Delson's consuming distortion. "Lies Greed Misery" gives the fans what they want with an almost gangster-beat with Mike's rapping combining explosively with Chester's screaming and yet accurate vocals. "I'll Be Gone" will be an instant fan favourite with memories of "What I've Done" in mind and even "New Divide", an extremely catchy melody with powerful guitars and an adept string section.

"Castle of Glass" turns the album on its head, and puts Living Things into another dimension altogether with an almost unnoticeable rhythm until the vocals appear amidst the punching piano sounds and increasing tempo and coherency. "Victimize" is aggressive, and goes beyond anything experienced even in Meteora and Hybrid Theory. Also harking back the familiar melody of "When They Come For Me", Chester's screams of "VICTIMIZE" sends everything into chaos and also unearths something completely new.

"Roads Untravelled" is possibly the most personal song on the album and couples with "Skin and Bones" very well with another drifting piano song with Mike and Chester combining vocal channels with excellence. "Iridescence" is a clear inspiration, but the band has grown further now, and has brought something new once again with a Linkin Park sound.

"Until It Breaks" can be arguably seen as the weakest song on the album with Mike's rapping over heavy beats, but then equalling out completely into an almost dreamy finish as the strings kick in. "Tinfoil" is another traditional, and very popular instrumental placed on the album with Joseph Hahn providing another excellent filler for the final song "Powerless".

The new Linkin Park album Living Things will receive mixed reviews because of the bands stand-out upbringings of the powerful guitars, telling vocals and aggressive leads. However, taking a step back, even slightly, will show fans that their band is still growing and learning. Exploring dark areas that we never thought would be reached, we hear a variety of different genres of music that blend together to create something different to their past four albums.

Washing My Skin

Washing My Skin

Washing my Skin away from the dirt,
That has remained for years on end,
Let me fall, throw me high,
Understand that its all one lie.

Dodging Cars, Settling the tracks,
We believe in our lives are all safe,
Don't know why, make it out,
I want to understand, the real you.

Running away from a sense of urgency,
Letting the call cry from above,
Ignoring the factors of our own lines,
You are the last light to fight.

Wreckage in the messages and fears,
Moving on, past circus stains,
Crimson skies in the darkness below,
Washing away our skins, that don't belong.

Sound the horns, alarms may ring,
May we laugh with desire and vision,
Worlds that exist, but are forgotten,
May you fall, I'll be there.

To catch your life because its what I dare to do.

My Top Songs of 2011

50. Rearrange (Miles Kane)

49. Uberlin (R.E.M)

48. She's Thunderstorms (Arctic Monkeys)

47. Major Minus (Coldplay)

46. Switchblade Smiles (Kasabian)

45. Kingcrawler (Miles Kane)

44. White Limo (Foo Fighters)

43. Dear Rosemary (Foo Fighters)

42. Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks (Noel Gallagher)

41. Police Station (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

40. Standing On The Edge of the Noise (Beady Eye)

39. I Hear Voices (Kasabian)

38. The Good Rebel (Noel Gallagher)

37. Back and Forth (Foo Fighters)

36. Look Around (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

35. AKA...What A Life (Noel Gallagher)

34. I Should Have Known (Foo Fighters)

33. Lotus Flower (Radiohead)

32. Library Pictures (Arctic Monkeys)

31. Inhaler (Miles Kane)

30. The Beat Goes On (Beady Eye)

29. The Daily Mail (Radiohead)

28. Dear Rosemary (Foo Fighters)

27. Acid Turkish Bath [Shelter From The Storm] (Kasabian)

26. Hurts Like Heaven (Coldplay)

25. Lotus Flower (Radiohead)

24. Piledriver Waltz (Arctic Monkeys)

23. Let England Shake (PJ Harvey)

22. If I Had a Gun... (Noel Gallagher)

21. All The Best (R.E.M)

20. Walk (Foo Fighters)

19. Arlandria (Foo Fighters)

18. The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala (Arctic Monkeys)

17. The Death of You and Me (Noel Gallagher)

16. The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie (Red Hot CHili Peppers)

15. Codex (Radiohead)

14. Days Are Forgotten (Kasabian)

13. Four Letter Word (Beady Eye)

12. Stop The Clocks (Noel Gallagher)

11. Paradise (Coldplay)

10. Goodbye Kiss (Kasabian)

9. Little By Little (Radiohead)

8. AKA...Broken Arrow (Noel Gallagher)

7. The Words That Maketh Murder (PJ Harvey)

6. Bridge Burning (Foo Fighters)

5. Monarchy of Roses (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

4. Everybody's On The Run (Noel Gallagher)

3. Man Of Simple Pleasures (Kasabian)

2. Bloom (Radiohead)

1. A Simple Game Of Genius (Noel Gallagher)

In The Light#1: Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza

Will it be back soon?

(Image from listal.com)

Improvisation comedy had returned in the form of Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza where host Drew Carey would perform with a host of other known improvisation comedians in front of a lively crowd at the MGM Theatre in Las Vegas. The show brought back the well-known hilarious cast of popular comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?

The works of Ryan Stiles, Brad Sherwood, Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops, Jeff Davis, Chip Esten and even guest appearances of Wayne Brady performed a variety of new and familiar games which depended heavily on audience participation and reaction. The audience was used repeatedly for suggestions for scenes depending on the game, and with some members even joining the performers on stage for Duet and Moving People games. Other familiar games included the works of Change (renamed New Choice), Two Line Vocabulary (branched out into Sentences) and the old favourite Greatest Hits.

The show started off well with large popularity and anticipation of the first few episodes where even controversial star Charlie Sheen made a shock appearance in a game himself. The musical styling of Bob DerKach proved important for the main background noises of scenes and even the main singing games, and even his own game known as Bob’s Call (similar to Scenes to Music) where each performer would have to begin to sing whenever DerKach decided to play.

The show even went to new extents with the self-proclaimed “the dangerous game in Improvisation comedy” of Mousetraps. This game forced two performers to create and act out a scene completely blindfolded with over one hundred live mousetraps scattered around the stage. To add to their woe and fear, they would perform bare foot as well to add to the amusement of the audience. Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie had performed this game several times in their own private shows and more commonly at the Montreal Comedy Festival where Sherwood stated that “any toes that fly out of the stage can be kept as a souvenir.”

The show began with high ratings but they dropped quickly with one episode aired in April, 2010 only bringing up 183,000 viewers for the episode. It was cancelled in August 2010 after a run of forty televised episodes with Drew Carey himself admitting the show would not return, for now, with season two. As a result many Facebook Groups and Youtube Channels have called for the return of the Improvised Comedy game show and they join forces with the already hundreds of websites and groups created for the return of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Each of the cast members continue doing their own comedy separately with the “Colin and Brad Show” still touring around the USA and “Whose Live Is It Anyway?” also following and touring around with various comedians. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed Improv-A-Ganza as I am a large fan of Improvisation Comedy and thought the show was important to keep it relevant in today’s world and television mediums. There has been little news since the cancellation of the show of what Drew Carey would attempt next, but with the amount of fans following still perhaps a new show is just around the corner.