Light Your Fire: Eurovision 2012

For once, I managed to find out and tune in, to Eurovision this year.
I always make a plan to watch it, but I always find myself too late - or see the winner on the news after it's all wrapped up.

So I was excited this year, to have heard about Euro12 ahead of time and made plans to watch it. And I did.

Ah, Eurovision - how I've missed thee.
I'd like to break down the events - but I wont. Instead i'll point out some highlights and stand out moments you will need to be up to date with the rest of the world.

Moment Number 1:
Well ok, it's not exactly a moment, but something to always watch are the hosts.
This year we had three of them - one of which was apart of the group that won last year.

As usual, they were not a disapointment. They were energetic, loud and passionate.
They also had that dorkyness, lameness and failed humour that every Eurovision host brings to the table.
This year they had the challenge of speaking french. They (on occassion) had to speak french and see how well they could pull it off. Why they did this I have no idea.

Moment 2:
Sorry, again, not a moment - more something to know (if you have any chance of being knowledgable on Eurovision) is where it is held.
This year it was held in Azerbaijan - in the lovely city of Baku.
Nothing to say here really, except the scenery is absolutely beautiful.

Moment 3:
This is both something to know and a moment - The winner of Eurovision 2012.
For anyone who might not know, it was the lovely Loreen from Sweden, with her song, Euphoria.
With catchy lyrics (I'm still singing them) and a beat that sounds very familiar (no joke, it sounds like a song you'd hear on V, or Hot 30, or something) Euphoria won the hearts of Europe, and won by 70 (or was it 90) votes; well it was something around those lines - in other words, she won pretty convincingly.
Here's the song if you want to listen.

Moment 4:

Ah, the Russian Grannies. What was not to love about them?
Filled with warmth each of them brings (or was it the oven prop in the background) these adorable ladies shook their stuff in front of millions of people. Bravo!
Beginning with a slow melody, I cringed as I thought Oh no, not a slow, granny song for three minutes.
But then - almst out of nowhere, the beat picked up, the audienced stood on thier feet, and the grannies began to ance and sing uptempo.
Hooray! The atmosphere was lively as the grannies sang and danced thier way through one of my favourite songs.
Like the winner, this was a song I couldn't get out of my head.

Moment 5:
Like every Eurovision we decide which ones are good...and which ones are not.
Instead of giving you a list of the countries that I deem shocking, and the songs I would rather forget, I will instead give honerouble mentions to those who I thought could have won.
The list - in random order:
Greece
Cyprus
Denmark
Estonia
Ukraine
Russia

Moment 6:
Another country which I thought did extrememly well and a country that sits dear on my heart is Malta.
This is the Night, was their song and performed great by Kurt Calleja and his band.
The lyrics were catchy, the beat uptempo, and all-in-all a marvelous performance.
Now, even though I may be a little bias, I'm not as bias as you might think.
When they first entred the stage, I was horrified - Malta doesn't exactly have a good record. And when I think back to previous entries I remember: wierd &/or boring.
But when these guys took the stage I was pleasently suprised to see the crowd was loving it - and more suprisingly...so was I.
So well done Malta, I'm very proud of you.

and well done to all the contestents - for making Eurovision 2012 a huge success...

So I hope I have given you all you need to know about Eurovision 2012.
If you missed it, you can still see the preformances via the Eurovision website and judge the countries for yourselves.

I'll post Malta's entry on here too, so you can dance to such a great song.

But for now...I'll see you next year in Sweden!

Kicking It Old School. Mr Miyagi Style

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with my Dad and we watched one of my favourite movies. The Karate Kid.                                           

For those who don’t know the story (and please, for the love of God, if you have not seen this movie – please rush out and buy it, cause you’ll want to watch it over and over) begins with a journey (literally) by a mother, her son and their old, never-starts-on-its-own car.

They’ve moved to California, where Daniel’s (our protagonists) life isn’t going so well.

The pretty, rich girl Ali, takes his eye early, but of course this lands him as a target from Ali’s ex Johnny.

Unfortunately for Daniel, Johnny is a part of a martial arts group, The Cobras, who as a group start picking on Daniel.

*ok picking on is a bit soft – they literally beat the shit out of him.

Entre Mr. Miyagi – The maintenance guy, who fixes their sink, Daniel’s bike, and becomes a person Daniel, can go to, to get away from it all.

But of course the old man isn’t all he seems, and this Okinawan, is a specialised martial arts genius, who agrees to help Daniel to learn martial arts.

Ok, I’m going to stop the brief overview there.

You’ve probably have already seen it, and if you haven’t  - watch it!

The reason for the post is because of its 80’s humour, clothing, style, which (for me at least) never gets old.

No matter how many times I watch this movie, I still laugh at all the funny things Mr Miyagi says. 

I still cheer at the end, and feel I can overcome anything myself, if only Mr Miyagi was there to help.

But that’s it.
I have no Mr Miyagi.

Maybe that’s why, a couple of nights ago, I found myself watching the second one.

If only Mr Miyagi was around to help me. And teach me kick ass moves while h'es at it.

Again, the second one still has that classic humour, style, and 80’s vibe.

People say the second of things, never rises up to its predecessor, but with the Karate Kid II, it definitely does.

Even if the storyline has its predictabilities, you can never go past what the movie offers.

Drama, tears, laughter, beautiful scenery, catchy one-liners you’ll remember forever and of course Mr Miyagi…and his awesomeness. 

Because let’s face it (and I know I’m losing my cred here) but Mr Miyagi is just damn awesome! 

He makes the Karate Kid movies, without him they would be nothing (sorry Ralph) and the success for the Karate Kid was due to him.  

So thankyou Pat Morita, for bringing Mr Miyagi to life – for showing us that we can defeat the bad guy, win the girl (or guy thanks) and do it with a kicking soundtrack.

And please, if you haven’t seen it, I urge you to do so. Like, right now.

Just A Rant - Because I can

Shopping for a new laptop (well anything really) can be stressful.
The weighing up of products, prices, online/in store, then there's which store to go to, can add up, to make a simple shopping trip hectic.

So it was too be on Saturday, when my Mum and I went shopping for a new laptop.  

With a big sale on, Harvey Norman was already going to be busy. But add to that, Mother’s Day was the following day.

As you can probably guess: it was busy as all hell.  

But that was Ok – we took a quick look at the laptops, we had a price range in mind, but above that, we stumbled on the perfect laptop.
It was a part of Harvey Norman’s half-price laptops deal – and it was the perfect laptop for me.

Unfortunately, it was the perfect laptop for everyone else too.

No joke, there were always at least three or more people standing around it; admiring it’s large screen size, all its functions and gizmo’s – but on top of everything, people loved the new price.  

Mum and I were terrified they would run out of stock before we could buy one.

But with our minds set, all we had to do was get a sales person to go get us one, and we’d be on our way. HA!

Like it was going to be that simple!

Yes ok, it was busy, but regardless of an abundance of staff, no one was around when we needed them.

So we stood around, hoping one of their friendly staff would ask two, kind ladies (who, let’s face it, know nothing about computers) if they need any assistance.  

But no – so we waited…and waited, and waited some more, until finally Mum had enough.

She tracked down a staff member, and asked for assistance.

Though of course, he was in the middle of serving someone, so naturally he looked around for someone to help us. Of course everyone was busy. 

So he left, and Mum was fuming.

I don’t know how long it had been, but Mum then tracked down (or maybe hunt would be more fitting) another assistant.
He too was busy, but managed to find someone who was able to help us.  

When he came over, a group of people flocked around us, also in need of his assistance.
But (and I’m only guessing here) he had strict instructions to serve us – otherwise Dragon Lady would hunt again.

*I’d like to point out how much I’ve down played this event. We really did wait for ages – no really, and my Mother, really did hunt down multiple staff members.
We also paced the laptop section, bumping into other shoppers, while they too, tried to catch an unseeing staff assistant.

So it was; we ended up getting the laptop after all. – “Naw” I can hear you all say, as you realise this story has a happy ending.

But why the blog post?
Ok, so you can rant on here all you like, but why bother with that?  

Well, there is a side story to this – or was mine the side story? Hmm.  

The other night I was watching Today Tonight, where they had Mr Harvey (Yes that’s right, the Harvey of Harvey Norman) watch his employees through camera equipped, secret shoppers.

It didn’t go well.

Multiple staff members ignored shoppers waiting around, one guy wasn’t wearing uniform and most of the shoppers were left standing there.

Of course this wasn’t always the case – one lady in particular was amazing at her job. She even helped a “secret shopper” while she was already serving someone else.

And there were others who knew and cared for what they were selling.  

But of course, when I was in Harvey Norman on Saturday, I couldn’t help but wish I was one of those camera equipped shoppers. Because I don’t think Mr. Harvey would have been pleased with what he saw.

As a said before, they were busy – but they should have had more staff on hand to help the ones that were already, tiredly working.

*Also, sorry to any Harvey Norman workers out there – I’m sure you do an amazing job. And I’m not referring to any of you.

Birthday Blowout

This is a piece dedicated to anyone who has had a shit birthday (whether you choose to remember it or not).
Keep in mind - this is fictional.


Birthday Blowout.

Today I woke up, ready to relish in the spoils and lifestyle of that who celebrates a birthday.

Today it was my turn.

That one day of the year, where you (and only you) get to decide what to eat, what you will do, who you wil spend it with; the one day of the year, you can treat everybody like complete crap and they (in return) shower you with gifts.

I woke up expecting that morning.
I hear the buzzing of my phone and see a dear friend has sent me a birthday text - one of many I will recieve throughout the day.

Breakfast is made for me and I'm waiting to open my present.
This was the first disaster.
                                                                             *
My Mum had been talking for weeks about getting a stereo which she could plug her Ipod in. The idea of putting it on loud speaker while she did housework (I would just like to point out, my Mum does minimal housework and it is often done by my Dad and I) means she can dance while sweeping, dusting, whatever needed to be done.
I agreed it would be a good idea, for Mother's Day, or her birthday prehaps, and I made a mental note.
                                                                              *
Alas, when I opened my present this morning, there sat the sound system Mum had been bragging about for weeks.
This upset me; not because the sound system was crap or I didn't want it, it was because it was what Mum wanted - and now instead of getting it for her, she could pick something else she wanted down the track - while happily using my sound system - yes, my Mum is a cunning bitch.

After a dismal morning; this included getting into trouble for taking away an Ipod cord, which I sacrificed my Ipod being charged so my Mum could charge her Ipod while we were out.
And the fact all morning my Mum (yes the bitch) plugged her Ipod in the sound system and started dancing around the house. My brother came up to me and asked if it was my present or Mum's - what a smart kid - and it was pretty obvious who liked the sound system more; and no doubt, who would be using it.

So after that we went round to my Grandparents house - when my Grandfather opened the door, it was obvious he had forgotten my birthday, and there was a chilly silence in the air as my Dad tried to mouth the word "Birthday" to him.
Then my Grandmother arrived (ah dear Nanna) she didn't forget. And as she handed me an envelope (inside a card an money, was my prediction) she said
"Happy Birthday. 17 this year."
I am in fact 19 today.
So after correcting her (done with smiles and laughs) it wasn't long till my Aunty arrived.
This was OK - none of them forgot my birthday (and they new how old I was) and to top it off I recieved a good gift - finally something useful (take notes Mum).

When we got back home, I thought (no prayed) things would look up.
I had left my phone at home, so I thought there would be many texts from friends wishing me a happy birthday.
Of course there were none - none?
Only one friend had bothered (or more likely remembered) to wish me a happy birthday.
It's OK, I thought - check facebook, there's bound to be plenty of facebook messages there.

Because I am one for privacy on the internet - I don't post my birthday on there -it became clear that without the reminded of - "Today is Daydreamer's Birthday" - no one actually remembered - there were no messages on Facebook either.
But I'm glad I didn't post my birthday on there - because if I did then there would have been pages of fake well wishers and lying dick's pretending like they cared about my birthday - in which I would have believed them.

So I have five hours till my birthday ends - and unusually - I can't wait till it's over.
My only comfort is that it will be a whole year until I have to suffer the torment of having another birthday.

So lastly, "Happy Birthday to Me."

And yes, if you have read this whole post and wondering - this is not fictional - it is entirerly true.