They sure can drive....

2 words for the following... CHIU CHENG!  (in chinese) Otherwise, you can call it anything as polite as clumsy but I prefer calling them dickwits. LOL.

The Punters Love A Good Disaster

The following article is being written by Ross Gittins (Fairfax economics writer) for Sydney Morning Herald, shares his thoughts as a media insider  that has seen media coverage go "way over the top" because "they know what their audience wants."

Have a read through, I personally find it interesting. 

The outpouring of public concern over the terrible Victorian bushfires, the rush to give blood, the huge amount of donations, the efforts of governments to do all they can to help, the way business has swung behind the appeal for assistance - it makes you proud to be an Aussie.

Is that how you feel? I don't. I find it all strangely disturbing and distasteful.

I have nothing against bushfires and nothing against Victoria. To tell the truth, I feel this way after every natural disaster we turn into an emotional extravaganza. Which is most of them. At least one or two a year.

But media coverage of this one's gone way over the top. And it's served to strengthen my suspicion that the community's reaction to natural disasters is exploitative, voyeuristic, unfair, self-gratifying and even pathological.

Perhaps the reason I react so differently from most people is that I view these events as a media insider and someone with a ringside seat at the political boxing match. This leaves me under no illusion that the media and the pollies are acting with pure motives.

Politicians want to be wherever the TV cameras are trained on something exciting. They want to be seen as always on the job, demonstrating their humanity by expressing their profound sympathy for the victims and acting like generals who lead from the front.

Like so many things, natural disasters advantage the political incumbents over their opposition. But politicians also act out of fear - fear of the criticism they'd attract from know-all talkback jockeys should they fail visit the scene, or should government agencies be judged to have bungled their response to the tragedy.

Natural disasters are a time when emotions and appearances reign supreme and rational thought goes overboard. Let a victim corner a politician on talkback radio and he'll agree to almost anything. The media devote such huge resources of space and airtime to covering natural disasters for an obvious reason: they believe it will increase their circulations and ratings.

But don't blame it all on the media. They do what they do because they know it's what their audience wants.

I've never liked having my emotions revved up by the media, but it's clear most people do. They want the media to give their feelings of sympathy, sorrow and grief a good workout.

The unspeakable truth is that most people enjoy a good natural disaster. We're fascinated by the misfortune of others. It's a form of entertainment, just as people find weepies and horror movies entertaining. As part of this, audiences want as much personal, intimate detail about the victims' trauma as possible, and the media deliver.

There was much disapproval when we learnt last week that, after the roads had been opened, sightseers were driving up there for a gawk. But why wouldn't they? Isn't that what the whole nation's been doing? Is it OK to gawk provided you do it in your living room using journalists as your agents?

I suspect we use natural disasters to add interest and excitement to our humdrum lives. Modern city life leaves us with weaker connections to our extended families and neighbours, so whereas once we could let our emotions loose on the misadventures of people we knew, now we need the mass media to provide our emotional exercise.

That's part of it. But I also suspect that feeling sympathy for the victims of disasters and rushing to make donations is intended to make us feel good about ourselves.

Few people keep their caring to themselves. We have to discuss with others how terrible it is and how bad it makes us feel. Why? So they know what caring people we are.

And it's not just individuals. Why does ABC Classic FM carry ads "urging" its listeners to donate? Because management wants its listeners to think well of the station. Why does a bank take out full-page ads announcing all the concessions it's prepared to make to its affected customers? Because it wants to improve its battered image. I wonder whether the cost of those concessions will come out of the bank's profits or be spread between its other customers.

The reason I'm cynical is that I know how fleeting all the professed concern is. I hate things that are fashionable, where everyone has the same opinion and does the same thing at the same time.

But like all fashions, it never lasts. Our preoccupation lasts a week or two before the media senses our waning interest and turns away, waiting for the next natural disaster to get excited about.

Unlike those actually caught up in the disaster, our mourning is soon over and our grief quickly dries up. Our care is all care but no responsibility. Everyone wanted to give blood last week, but what the Red Cross needs and can't get is enough people who'll give blood regularly when it's gone back to being unfashionable.

Kevin Rudd made a fine speech last week promising the Government would be there to rebuild the destroyed towns "brick by brick, school by school". It would be "with these communities not just in the trying and difficult days and weeks which lie ahead, but in the arduous task of the months and years that lie ahead".

If you believe that you have more faith in politicians than I do. Remember Rudd's ringing rhetoric on Sorry Day last year? Its anniversary last week was almost completely overshadowed by our latest passing excitement.

Our emotion-driven caring is highly selective. People with problems get wonderful treatment provided their problems make good TV footage and for the 15 minutes they're in the media spotlight. People with chronic (old-hat), unphotogenic problems get ignored.

Last week the pollies snapped into action when bushfire victims claimed Centrelink was being overly bureaucratic. In the Northern Territory, some Aborigines' quarantined incomes have been unavailable to them for days because of technical or bureaucratic bungles. Who cares?

You may say that, whatever our motives and fickleness, at least the money we donate does some good.

Yes - provided we don't give less to other charities to compensate.

Some British evidence suggests we probably do.

How Cruel!

Missed your flight?? No Worries, just kick up a fit!

This is funny... especially when you understand Cantonese!... LOL

The Most Original Tattoos

Here's something worth sharing. I have never seen tattoos as unique and different as these before. Check out more great designs at www.yourmeatismine.com

Apocalypse in Victoria

Not sure any of you who live outside Australia know this but on 07.02.09, fire broke out in the outback of Victoria, 300 hundred lives, gone, thousands were homeless and towns perished.

The most devastating disaster in Australian history. This is just bad. Its beyond comprehension. The worse part is, the fire was deliberately lit but arsonists. What the fuck with these people? Why are people so fucked in the head? I'm not gonna go on about this but to those who are interested, visit http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/ for more information.

Its amazing that in such a short time, Australians and people around the world donated $80 million (still counting) towards those who suffered and lost their homes. I have been reading and following the news about this ever since it started and I couldnt help but feel the urge to do something. A good part of me wanna just drop of everything, my job etc and just gohelp out. The fire department needs all the help they can get. Should I do it? If I do it, I will most likely gonna loose my job. Maybe I just do some donation. Maybe I'l just use my blog to plead to friends, family and those who subscribe to my blog to dig deep, donate anything, not matter how small. Personally, I think Australia has been kind. I mean when the Killer Tsunami happened, most Australians donated. They have been giving. I'm not saying this because I 'm a permanent resident here. I'm saying this because its the truth. Everyone here always donate when something bad happens, no matter where it is.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I can go on for days but I'm not going to. If you feel like contributing something, here's the link where you can do that. http://www.redcross.org.au

Below are some images captured by journalists, volunteer firefighters etc.

Christian Bale losing it...!

Well well well. This audio clip of Christian Bale losing it at a director of photography is spreading like wild fire. It gets featured on the radio all day. Not missing out, the news, newspaper and all media throughout have their own little take on what happened.

 This is what happened.

And of cos, there will always be someone out there taking a piss out of things like this. The following audio clip is a remix of Christian's tirade of abusive words with some techno beats. This is funny as! It's actually pretty good too! Check it out.

Is the little girl the only victim??

Mathew Charles drove across the bridge moments after the incident and saw the reaction of witnesses. The tears were flowing on the West Gate Bridge and I didn't know why.

Parked in the left lane in the searing heat was a blue station wagon, a woman in the passenger seat weeping. Her office-worker partner peered over the edge of the giant bridge that was built on tragedy, staring at the brown river below. I didn't know it at the time but the couple may have been witnesses of an unfolding calamity that would provoke many more tears.

A child had gone over the edge into the waters below and was now the focus of frantic attempts to save her as police hunted for the person who could have been responsible. But at this point I didn't know any of this or why a car should be parked at the top of the bridge. Because all that my wife - heavily pregnant with our first child - and I saw as we crawled our way up the bridge was the woman's partner, an ordinary looking man standing outside his ordinary looking car. With one arm raised to cover his eyes from the sun, he gripped the rail, peering this way and squinting that way, as if he had just accidentally dropped something into the waters below but he didn't know where.

As other drivers made their way past the car, I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw the woman sitting in the car's front seat. Confused as to what it was we had seen we phoned the police. A short time later, as I settled into my day, the phone rang. It was my wife. Upset.

As she was returning back over the bridge early reports came over the radio that a man had driven to the very top of the bridge and thrown a child to her death. Despite the heat I felt chilled.

Read more about this tragedy here...

My Two Cents: This is what I thought when I heard about the tragedy on the radio... What?? Why?? How?? What scumbag would do that to his own?? Then, on second thought, what emotion is the father actually going through to do that to his own child? The following day, after reading the article on the newspaper, I couldnt help but to have some sympathy on the father. I mean, if what the newspaper said are true, the dad loves and adores his family, then imagine what the dad actually have to deal with to make him do such a thing. Wouldnt deciding on throwing his daughter off the bridge be equal as taking his own life? Maybe he already planned on taking his own life. I'm not saying what he did was justifiable, far from it. What I'm trying to say is, everyone seems to be saying, poor child, but I do think that the father is considered a victim too, in some ways at least. Also, those who actually work on the case, those who saw what happened. These people are all victims. Its hard not to have nightmares after witnessing this tragedy. I myself got a bit emotional reading it on the newspaper. I hope those who are involved manage to cope with this.