An Open letter to Viktoria

Dear Vik.

I am putting this on my blog because honestly I want the world to see it. In such a short period of time you have done what few have managed to do, and that is to bring light to so many dark places in people’s lives. I have seen the lowest points of humanity in the last few years, I’ve seen people who have barely been able to hang on, hoping just hoping to see that tiny ray of light that they need to keep going.  And you by far and away are that light that helps so many; I won’t name names but the amount of people who have told me privately what you have done for them is endless.
No-one has a bad word to say about you and all I ever hear is the same thing, your positive mindset and your ability to say the right thing when someone badly needs to hear it just proves what an incredible person you are.

I haven’t had the best time of things myself but I now look to you as someone to inspire too. I do my best to try and help others despite the little experience I have. And I just hope that I can half the impact you have had on people by just doing the small little things that matter.
People like you are rare and extremely special; the ones who genuinely care no matter if they are a friend or a stranger off the street are people who should be treasured. And the fact that you have done so much for people that I consider important just makes you even more important to me.
You are the friend that people need and the sister that some have never had.
They say certain darkness is needed to see the stars; well you are those stars, brightly shining above the heads of those who need it most. God bless you.

Love Karissa

RIP John McCarthy

The word tragedy is bandied around too often when it comes to sport.  It’s a tragedy when a team loses or when a player gets injured and is out for 12 months but in truth these things a trivial when in comparison to life itself. Today Port Adelaide AFL player John McCarthy lost his life after it’s believed he fell from a balcony while holidaying in Las Vegas. At the young age of just 22 it truly is a tragic end to the life of a guy who was just getting his AFL career back on track.
John came to Port Adelaide through the preseason draft after his chances at Collingwood had been limited. When I heard he had ended up at Port I wasn’t surprised, the club had a habit of turning players careers around with Jay Schultz and David Rodan both examples of this.
While I don’t support Port Adelaide I absolutely loved watching John play, he played all but 1 game this season and had well and truly cemented himself into the Port Adelaide side. And I could see that he was going to be an important cog in the Port machine for years to come.
I met John once at one of Port’s early training sessions this season; he was on his own warming up so I decided to go over and say hi and welcome him to Adelaide. He was genuinely appreciative of my kind words and I spent the next 15 minutes having a chat to him. What struck me then was how own to earth he was, he was willing to stand there and answer any question and sign any autograph that a little kid asked for.
 But I guess what I liked more was his positive attitude about life in general.
As football fans we can bitch and moan about how bad our team is doing, about how the umpires have done us an injustice but today’s events put that all into perspective. When we say oh well there is always next season for our teams, there is no next season for John. Time has stopped for John’s family, friends and his team mates and while life goes on for the rest of us incidents like this make you realise that tragedy can strike anyone. At 39 games Australia will never see John play football again but I know he shall never be forgotten.
Rest in Peace John, you were a genuinely lovely guy and it a pleasure just to have spoken to you once. And I send my heartfelt condolences to John’s family, his friends and to the Port Adelaide Football Club and its supporters as a whole. We as AFL fans are all grieving with you.

The Trolls claim another victim

When you grow up as part of generation Y it’s only natural that you use social media on a daily basis. Both Facebook and Twitter have become a part of the social fabric and too not use them almost seems unheard of. But sadly there will always be a dark side to using the internet and what has happened to Charlotte Dawson is just one example. I have always had the upmost respect for Charlotte, she says what she thinks and normally doesn’t hold back, you need people like her in the world because without them society would accept the crap it’s fed and not have a voice. She stuck her neck out over the last week and called out those trolls who have been causing a campaign of hate against her and for that I thought she was extremely brave. But instead of the wave dissipating the hate turned into a tsunami and not even the strongest soul would have been able to handle it.
Despite how much I love using social media such as twitter I hate the fact that so many have fallen victim to the trolls that are spawned from it. Celebrities in particular cop the brunt of it because they are in the public eye but just like everyone else they are human and deserve the same respect as everyone else. I’ve been a victim of internet bullying in the past and at the time I wasn’t sure what to do or how to get out of the situation and in the end it very nearly cost me my life.  I tried to ignore the trolls I even at one point tried to reason with them but it made no difference they are the ones who think they have all the power and I saw no way out.
Sadly when it comes to this sort of thing there is no real solution. You can try and catch these trolls, name them and shame them but as the saying goes when you cut the head off the snake 2 more grow back in its place. There are always going to be more out there lying in wait to catch you out and it doesn’t surprise me that many celebrities ignore social media or even fan mail now for fear of hate being thrown at them.
People wonder why trolls do this, why they try and hurt others from behind their keyboard. The answer is sadly very simple, because they take pleasure in seeing someone else’s pain, they love it when they see someone all but give up and enjoy the victory of a battle that was only ever one sided. But a part of me wonders if these trolls really understand the damage that they cause, if they realise that the person reading these tweets or facebook messages is dying inside.
Charlotte my heart goes out to you, what you have had to endure is truly disgusting and I hope that you will fight back and come out stronger from this hell you have been thrown into, because you are so much better than all of them put together.

Channel 9 and The Olympics FAIL Coverage

As a passionate Australian sports fan the Olympics is one event I refuse to leave the house for. Over 2 weeks it is a symbol of national pride and is the result of 4 years of hard work. This is also the time where those household names go into folklore and where complete unknowns become stars. The Olympics is something I cherish personally because I am one of those types who appreciate every sport no matter what it is, but when it comes to watching the Olympics that has become a battle in itself, slowly slipping down in quality as the years have gone on. Free to air television stations pay huge amounts of money to show one of the biggest events on earth but clearly have no interest in the public when they do bid for it.
Four years ago I sat on my bed watching Steve Hooker jump for Gold in Beijing, back then Channel 7 had the broadcast rights and made someone like myself wait till nearly midnight before actually showing his winning jump. Back then I was annoyed and upset by the coverage that 7 had shown and delaying certain sports become almost ridiculous. When I heard a few months later I heard that Channel 9 had won the rights to not only the 2012 London Olympics but the Vancouver Winter Olympics I was overjoyed because I thought no-one could do worse. Oh how wrong was I, not only have 9 produced a worse coverage but it is boarding on a farce.  Watching the 2010 Winter Olympics was beyond painful and I guess that’s why my expectations for London were so low.
Swimming has always been one of the highest profile sports for Australia and the media scrutiny leading up to the games; especially on swimmer James Magnussen was unbelievable. Having won gold at the world championships last year the Australian media expected not only gold but the 100m Freestyle world record to fall. Neither of those things happened, instead James came an outstanding second, only being touched out on the wall. For his first Olympics and at just 21 to get a silver medal I thought was a fantastic achievement but instead channel 9 and its media made out as if it was a failure. Not only did they repeat his disappointed interview afterwards but 9 thought to also make reference to his effort in the 4x100m relay from 2 days earlier. The edited package made it look like it was James fault for us coming 4^th and not giving the team any credit for putting up a good fight to make the final in the first place. The pressure that 9 are placing on the athletes and highlighting failures or skipping over certain results (e.g. The Rowing) is pathetic. We should be celebrating the fact they have made it as far as they have instead of expecting Gold all the time.
One of the things that bugged me about Channel 7’s coverage 4 years ago was their incessant need to chop and change sports, but what I didn’t expect was 9 to be worse than that. For the majority of the first week we have seen only snippets of sports whenever an Australian has been competing before quickly moving onto something else. I am a football fan and despite the fact Australia failed to qualify a men’s team I had hoped to see a game or 2. Spain, Argentina & Brazil had brought some of their strongest teams to London and it would have been wonderful to see. Instead 9 had failed to mention the football or show anything except a tiny highlight of a women’s game on Day 1. I know 9 will probably show the Gold Medal match, but I wanted to see the games to that point.
Channel 7 did do one thing right though 4yrs ago, they gave SBS the less high profile sports such as fencing and Handball to show and at least gave them some coverage. Also SBS was good enough to respect the “no ads during play” policy and only played an ad during half time. Channel 9 has yet to show a single fencing match or a handball game, I’ll admit neither of these sports are of a great interest to me but that is not the point. There would be plenty of people out there who love those sports who deserve to see some of it at least.
Channel 9’s need to show commercials every 5mins is another thing that is getting to me, but then again it’s no different to any other show that they broadcast. I get that the Olympics is a commercial product and sponsors need their moment but to constantly play Coles & Swiss ads every 5mins gets to a point where I just change channels. But even when channel 9 is showing their coverage the amount of stuff ups has been endless. Getting commentators who are not knowledgeable in the sport they are commentating makes for almost excruciating viewing. Michael Slater knows his cricket but to expect him to comment on diving is pathetic, at times he seems to be hoping they flop into the pool and some of the questions he asks are ridiculous.
 But then of course last night took the cake, cycling legend Anna Meares was lining up to race in the heats of the Kieran and in the same heat was her great rival Victoria Pendleton. These 2 women racing each other was one of the things i had been looking forward to for months. But just as they were about to start they immediately cut to an ad break claiming that we would understand as they had special guests in the studio. When they came back it was Prince William & Harry talking about the Olympics! Now I have nothing against the princes but they could have recorded the interview to play later. There was no need to show it live. Many people had got up or stayed up to watch Anna race and they were treated to this instead. In this case my father said it best, “Channel 9 have had their priorities wrong from Day 1” and I agree.
I think everyone’s feelings can be summed up perfectly by a post I read on Channel 9’s Facebook page last night. “Your channel is the reason I got Foxtel” and it’s very true. I personally can’t afford Foxtel but I know its coverage is head and shoulders above what 9 is serving up. But hopefully by the time the next winter Olympics in Russia comes around that shall be rectified.

Thank You Rachael :) (@rachaeleahcar)

So today I finally got to meet one of the 3 amazing people whose music has meant a lot to me over the last 4 months. I have had the pleasure of speaking to Rachael on Twitter for several months but I was unsure what I would be able to say. I will admit when I’m nervous my right hand shakes so bad I have to shove it in my pocket and it did get that bad today but I was impressed at how I managed to not make a fool out of myself. Today was worth the crappy bus ride and the standing in line and being pushed and knocked over just so I could have a few moments. They say music is a powerful healer and I firmly believe that, it saved my life 4 years ago and it’s helped keep my head above water now.

I must say I had my fingers crossed Rachael would sing La Vie en Rose, I have loved the song for a very long time and fell in love with the song even more after watching the 2007 film of the same name. I got plenty of looks from people when I was able to sing along while others just watched but that’s what happens when you have heard the song close to 150 + times. And I have to say I thought Rachael was an incredible singer on The Voice & from her YouTube videos but getting to hear her live is something else altogether. I have no words to describe how good she is other than she is a gift.

But I think what I loved was her appreciation for everyone, there are many who could have been out off in her situation but not Rachael. And that’s why I stand by the comments I made back after Rachael’s blind audition, she has the same love & appreciation of the fans as Delta. And I have the faith that her career will be just as long as her coach.
Thanks Rachael for making these holidays a memorable one, it certainly made up for my airport drama last week. You’re an angel and ill support your career for the rest of my days and that’s a guarantee

Oz Comic Con my thoughts

I went to Melbourne last week for their first ever Oz Comic Con, having been to Adelaide’s back in March and enjoying myself immensely I was looking forward to seeing if Melbourne would deliver. I guess in some ways I was lucky having decided to go VIP to the event rather than risk paying general admission. Looking back on it now it was the smartest decision I’ve ever made because there is no way I would have done half the things I did on a general pass,  that being said when you pay the extra money you expect to get a certain amount of preferential treatment. Arriving at the exhibition centre at 8am I did not expect to see lines already out the door, it was only later I discovered that people had been lining up since 4am, the scene was nuts! But even from that early stage I could see organisation was an issue, having collected my pass I was let in a mere 5mins before the general people giving me no time to be able to find anything.
I was lucky in a sense though; having a friend who had decided to go platinum they bought the majority of my tokens for me as the cocktail party on the previous night, meaning I didn’t have to brave what can only be called manic token line. Never have I seen a token line snake around the entire building before in my life and it made it almost impossible to walk around comfortably.  And that was the big issue I had on day 1, it was near impossible to see half the stalls because so many people were clogged up in the aisles either lining up for tokens or trying to get to Stan Lee.  In the end I only bought one thing on day 1 because my body had just about had enough of trying to force my way through the manic crowds.
One of the other things that disappointed me was I saw no panels on Day 1, 2 of the main ones I wanted were on when I was stuck in line to see Stan Lee and I wasn’t prepared to move in case they sent me to the back. And this is where organisation really fell apart, I was forced to stand behind general ticket holders & none would let me through despite the fact I had a VIP ticket. There were no volunteers minding or organising the lines and I watched as many jumped cues and cut in front of me. I was squashed, poked, hit and nearly knocked over so many times in that line it was a joke & it wasn’t until I let fly on Twitter that someone finally arrived.
Why Stan Lee was put in with the booths is beyond me, putting your biggest drawcard in a tiny stall away from the other celebs makes no sense. Yes he is a comic guest but the man has more star power than just about every other guest put together, he should have been with them and then lines may have been better managed. The celebrity area was also poorly done, especially in comparison to Adelaide Comic Con. All the guests should have been on one side, not having 2 lots directly facing each other. Jason Momoa had so many people line up at one point it snaked all the way into Ryan Robbins line, making it impossible to tell who was lining up for who. By also putting the celebs facing each other it made getting food from the cafeteria and using the toilets difficult, so much congestion meant many missed out & I overheard many went hungry for hours.
Day 2 was better, VIPs & Platinum’s were let in 30mins early and it was good to get left over tokens before the mad rush started, it felt easier to move around and I even got to see a panel & do some shopping. But it still wasn’t perfect I personally had 2 issues with Day 2 and they were the photos & panel noise. On day 1 the first photo I got for the day never arrived, I waited until the doors nearly shut until eventually they said they would get it reprinted. It wasn’t until later I discovered several printers went nuts and ate half the pics, I just wish they had said it earlier. Early the next day I did finally get my pic but I know many waited longer & have only just received theirs by mail at their own expense. As much as I enjoyed the VIP panel I went too, having such a tiny amount of people show up in a huge room trying to compete with the cosplay competition next door was a nightmare. I get the need to have the general panels in the big auditoriums but special VIP panels must in future be upstairs or somewhere else. This is one major thing Adelaide did right, there may not have been enough room in Adelaide but at least you could hear the guests properly.
I’m not going to go into the ticket issues that happened, I feel sorry for those who lined up for hours only to be told they wouldn’t get in. In some ways it’s why I’m worried that the venue change for 2013 may cause similar issues I found out that this year’s Comic Con had 10,000 pre sold tickets, which makes me think they should stay at the exhibition centre and just open up the whole place. The exhibition building in Carlton where they plan next year’s Comic Con I have been told is smaller. It’s also a hell of a lot more difficult to get to by public transport and car parking is a nightmare and if the rumours are true that they have bigger guests lined up history could repeat itself.
For Comic Con’s first ever time in Melbourne I enjoyed myself but I will never go again on anything less but VIP. And yeah there were issues but I just hope the guys learn from them so they can make 2013 even better because I will be back next year.