AussieDidge's avatar

AussieDidge

Poems, Photos, Programs, period.
127 Watchers689 Deviations
44K
Pageviews
Great heavens, has it been nearly four months ALREADY, since my warped wrap-up of 2017?

Honestly I find that hard to believe, but as I stare at the clock on my computer, I'm forced to confront the fact that yes, it is mid-April, the year has certainly reached breakneck speed, and I'm struggling to keep pace as always.

Anyways, for the first time in 2018, glorious greetings to you gallant goombas, AussieDidge here with this bumper 2018 quarterly edition of the Didge Digest; as always presenting the tip-top tiptoe through this tome to tell you the crack, the news, the good word of my life.

For the first three months of 2018, you'll bear witness as always to the ups, downs and all 'rounds of how this year has begun for me, and sadly, I regret that I haven't kept everyone as regularly updated as I would like.

Before I begin, apologies in advance to those who loathe my long-winded language. Given that I'm going to express THREE MONTHS worth of events in one entry, there's going to be details upon details, yet little time to express it all.

As always, here's the rundown of sorts for what I'm going to discuss. For a change of pace, I'm going to detail events by month rather than by category, and go from there. Beginning from January, we have:

- My appointments with Employment Plus on the 15th and 29th;
- Clothes shopping and book buying on the 15th;
- Continuing desires to write;
- Reading and exploring new books;
- Continuing to work at Salvos.

For February, we have these events to sample:

- Continuing my writing, to some actual merit that month.
- Discuss rewards from becoming QTW, and how they've been used.
- Lunchtime and other good times with my family;
- Clothes shopping at Big W;
- A concerning lack of communication on behalf of Employment Plus, especially as I expected an appointment with them on the 14th. 
- Other bits as they come to mind.

Finally, for the month of March, and my personal favourite, we have these:

- Same old shit at work, but changes are happening;
- Continuing lack of communication from EP, as if I've just been cut out of the loop entirely.
- Last week of March, a more special occasion than usual.

Now I completely understand if this is a lot to take in initially, but I'm trying a new format here and hoping to see what works, and what doesn't. Hopefully there's a succinct smorgasbord of sweet stuff to sample, but enough bullshit, let's get to the real shit!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jammin' January
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It sadly grants me no joy, and does my health no favours, to continue discussing the shambled system that's the Australian unemployment scheme.

I'm one of a lucky few to not have financial burdens looming over my shoulder (public universities are great for that, I guess), but continued appointments with my provider, Employment Plus, has proven fruitless so far.

That said, in the months since I joined their team, two particular meetings, one on the 15th, the other on the 29th, stood out as being immensely more helpful than anything my previous provider had ever done.

It was a chance to write and buff up our resumes, with advice coming from a long-time former colleague and one with decades of experience in retail. We all covered those cover letters, the ultimate best-impression document, tips for nailing interviews, and finally, a mock one-on-one interview with the 'boss' himself.

Given that all this advice was free, it was actually useful to hone my writing skills with regards to what employers wanted, how to stand out among hundreds of other, better applicants, and where to get started.

I took down notes, snapped pictures of various slideshows, listened to YouTube videos in-house... Anything to get my career going. The 15th went by quite well, and while I sadly missed out on the 22nd, which was "Marketing to Employers", I got into a mock interview on the 29th.

An interview that for the most part, I surprisingly aced.

So of course that meant more pressure on my shoulders to start finding jobs. Such is the story of one AussieDidge.

Well, after those classes, on the 15th I would walk to the nearby plaza (not even half a mile away) and join with my parents to have some lunch, buy some clothes, and of course, devour more books. In fact, there were two new titles to add to the collection.

As far as clothes went, they mainly focused around tracksuits; nice, comfortable pants for inside wear when I wanted to relax. Even though I struggle for room in my wardrobe (or so my Mum would have you believe), you can never run out of things to wear.

Aside from clothes shopping, book-reading and job searching, my continuing desire to write came to the fray.

I would contribute plenty of answers to Quora, a question-and-answer forum like Yahoo Answers, but greater, reworking dozens of my old poetry, with rhyme and rhythm changes in many cases, and generally keeping the skills as sharp as I could.

Y'know, as perhaps as sad as it sounds, might be that my way with words will determine the course of my life. =p

As far as new books went, I collected a few and read them all recently, they included: 

  • Tanked: How Getting Wasted Helped Shape History; a history of narcotics and alcohols and their significance on various historical events, 
  • Great Australian Scams, Cons and Rorts; a self-explained title on our most colourful characters, their various escapades, and even some bush poetry thrown in for good measure, quite humorous bits too. And, finally;
  • Stupid White Men; one controversial piece from Michael Moore that examined George W. Bush's election of the time and how various problems plaguing American society might've played a part. Written just past the turn of the century, and still a bit relevant now, but of course, there be trigger warnings afoot I'm sure.
In their own ways, I enjoyed all three, but especially the first and second one. Eamon Evans, of Tanked, and Jim Haynes, of GAS (huh, how appropriate a pair) had written some amazing books about Australian culture, human debauchery, and more with great humour and story-telling weaved in. I'd heartily recommend them both.

Lastly for this month, I remained working at the Salvos, where at that point, I was honestly starting to grow bored of the whole thing. I've seen so many people come and go, whether through program ends & starts, or being a giant dick to others, and I've seen nothing change that much.

It feels a damn sight near purgatory, when each task feels the same and you can have good ideas who'll be there on what day. And at that point, it's been a year and change. I know for damn sure that I want to seek new ventures, perhaps self-learn again, and even join a social group or two... Soon, I'll be able to do just that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Febulous February
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As quick as 2018 arrived and begun, it left with little fanfare as February rolled around. What was going to be in store for little old me at this time?

Well, I'll begin by continuing to mention my writing, and it was more or less the same, with a nice little twist added to the mix. As always, I contributed more answers to Quora, reworked another selection of my rhymes, and generally tried to keep the skills sharp in some way.

The neat twist at the end came about on the 24th of February.

So I jumped into Quora as I did and I would check my notifications, my little messages for any comments, meaningful discussions, anything worth spending my time on. Well, I get this guy who's sent a message, named Jonathan Brill.

Okay, what does he want? No-one sends me messages on there...

Well, I open up, and find out that, after less than four months since joining Quora (no, I'm not kidding) I had been named as a Top Writer for the year (in late February, but details, schmetails.)

I was suspicious at first, then in complete disbelief as I looked through the guy's profile for legitimacy, and everything checked out. Far as writing went, it was wonderful to be recognised for trying to contribute valuable answers.

Of course, that excitement died down a little bit considering who else became Top Writers that time; long overdue and well-deserving contributors well before I should've had a chance.

Many years and thousands of answers, compared to my four months and 200 answers at the time.

In addition to such an honour, I would also receive a Top Writer Welcome Package, which involved a free one-year subscription to The New York Times, no joke.

That reward would be worth close to THREE HUNDRED dollars, just going by basic subscription rates. And certainly, various sects of society would have strong, if not spoon-fed, opinions to their legitimacy, but like hell I'm going to complain about such a reward.

So far I've mainly read opinion pieces, but I'm pretty sure I'll tackle actual news articles at some point. It's been good reading so far.

Those good vibes given the stage, I also had lunchtimes with my folks once again, including various dine-ins at a Coffee Club franchise and another favourite restaurant of mine nearby.

We also continued to maintain and track those savings, seeing where our money went. And of course, while we've more or less stayed on top of everything, let's just say that certain annual payments on things can be a real sting in the arse sometimes.

Once again, there was more clothes shopping at Big W, including more tracksuits for yours truly. Not only were they cheap, they were damn comfortable too, and came in three colours; navy blue, grey and black camo.

There was more shopping too, especially where I worked. In among other bobs and bits, I also purchased six lovely drinking glasses, gold-plated, intricately shaped designs, for under ten dollars.

And to think I used to shun shopping in a second-hand store...

Seriously people, it cannot hurt to look. For all the things I've found and purchased there, ranging from old game expansions long disappeared, to wonderful new books, to even leather jackets, I could've saved upwards of hundreds of dollars, saved up for whenever it was needed.

Hell, if I was so desperate, I could probably afford a pair of Yeezys with the money I've saved (on second thought, absolutely not.)

While I've grown ever more certain about my desire to go op-shopping, what had been more uncertain lately is my relationship with Employment Plus.

Assuming things were the same as before, I expected a monthly follow-up on the 14th, Valentine's Day of all days, but as the days crept closer and I kept getting no texts on my phone, I kept debating on whether to call them or not.

In the end, since I was still getting fortnightly payments, and heard nothing of losing or having them affected, I just let it be.

To say the least, I'm still as confused as ever with these guys, and I can assure that, if it weren't for their help with my resume, cover letter and interview skills, I'd place them directly level with my previous provider; as useless, pathetic bags of trash.

So February was a month of nice little highs and rather crummy lows, but I guess that's the get-go. Whether March would turn out any better, that was for me to realise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marvellous March
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March is always marvellous for myself and my folks, especially the month's end, but this year it felt like a very inconsequential month before then.

It was the same old shit at work as always; process some sales, re-arrange clothing racks, keep the store tidy, and occasionally produce new stock for sale, among other minor duties. In amongst this mindless busywork, I have tended to enjoy chatting to various colleagues and customers, trying anything to pass the time.

I'll give it straight... I absolutely CANNOT wait to get out of there. I really like the people working there, and most customers are quite okay, if not a bit of a nuisance due to their constant haggling, but the tasks are so. damn. repetitive.

I kept wondering when it would be over, but of course, asking around work never seemed to grant an answer. There was perhaps only one source to go to...

A source that, again, continued their lack of communication with me this month, almost like I had been cut out of the loop entirely. It left me thinking as to whether I should actually call them up and ask what was going on, or whether to confirm if I had actually finished up or not.

Again, I was still receiving my regular payments, so whether it was wise to get clarity and potentially upset the gravy train, I just wasn't certain. Once again, I erred on blissful ignorance and chose not to get in touch. Not like my provider and I are friends, and even if they were, they'd be awful ones to keep.

So for the most part, nothing really significant happened during the month, outside of your usual retail therapy, good appetites and hard slogs at work, but at the end of the month, we had quite a number of special occasions to celebrate.

On the weekend prior, seeing that we were working on the day, my family got together to celebrate my 26th birthday. And boy, we certainly enjoyed it like it was nobody's business.

On Saturday, we would go to see Black Panther, a movie I was intrigued to see for many reasons, chief among them the majority black cast who would carry a film for the first time I ever knew. First things first, we had some munchies, a little bit of take-away to avoid the robber baron prices charged for snacks at the nearby cinema.

Once that was over, it was time to see the movie. Throughout the two hours or so, I found myself enjoying this movie more and more. Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan, two of the most insanely ripped gentlemen I had ever seen, portrayed great characters in King T'Challa and Killmonger, with very unique, somewhat relatable stories to tell.

The visuals were beautiful to watch; from the spirit plane to various on-location sites like Busan in South Korea, and the fights and choreography were definitely something else.

When the main villain was someone you could actually feel empathy for, as his story was revealed piece by piece, and a man who deserved more than what he got, you could partway feel for his motivations. However, his desire to rule and conquer, plunging the world into utter war and destruction, well that could quickly pull you back.

And for the relatively short time he was on screen, Andy Serkis (yes, Gollum of all people) was just absolutely fucking WONDERFUL as the ruthless mercenary Klaue. His manic delivery, gleefully youthful fun and Don-inspired dialogue ('cause that shit be hammy) made him so awesome to watch.

For me, it was worth a solid eight out of ten, a great movie through and through, that proved many things to me. The quality, success and lasting appeal could only improve such prospects for more movies with unique casts like this, and if this was the result, like hell I'm complaining.

We would have an amazing dinner and drinks after the show, and then it was back home to relax. Overall, a great night, one I thoroughly enjoyed.

Barring Sunday for its more usual routine, it was back to work on Monday, when my birthday actually fell. Not much of a particularly special day, but hearing my colleagues' surprise upon reveal and their best wishes made it quite nice compared to other days.

Two days after that was another very special occasion; my parents' 31st wedding anniversary. Yes folks, that's 31 whole YEARS together, not your half-assed 6-month 'anniversary' or anything. Seriously, you could use words like 'celebration' instead. =p

Ultimately not much happened there either, but I think they ended up going shopping, and my Dad, lo and behold, would pick-up the newest Far Cry game, which admittedly featured some really gorgeous graphics of the backwater country town of Hope County, Montana.

And right after that, for the first time I can recall, Easter was falling right at the start of April, rather than two weeks in. So birthday presents, movies, games, family, celebrations and now chocolates... See why I love this month so much? =D

Oh, and in addition, I ended up finishing all of my old reworks, about 70 of them, by the month's end. Since then it has been about coming up with ideas for various poetry books, and I gotta tell ya, it's been a struggle thinking of titles for household items and hobbies... Something tells me it's the kind of thing that won't happen overnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Final Conclusions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So unbelievably, a quarter of the year, of 2018, has vanished in a mere blink of an eye. In spite of this, I have made some progress towards certain areas, and intend to continue doing so into the future.

My writing has progressed nicely as I continue contributing answers to Quora, and work on new titles and potential storyboards for my would-be books, but of course, it has meant that other plans I did have; learning to drive, joining social clubs, researching things, has fallen by the wayside. Clearly, need to work on those.

Of course, it would be nice to leave the Salvos and Employment Plus and try to strike out on my own. Perhaps EP have known of this, and left me to do so, and while it has been much harder than I first imagined, I obviously can't give up.

Knowing full well I don't want a repeat of the useless year that was 2017, I would hope that the next nine months of 2018, a pregnant pause if ever there was one, prove to be productive, prosperous and preferably painless (like that's gonna happen!)

To sum up this whole journal, and the 3,000 words and change I've written for it thus far, maybe I am finding a little direction with my life, for the first time in forever. Or, maybe it'll be the same useless chicken chase, and I'll have to think of other plans instead.

But I will find my calling, I will find my piece in this massive jigsaw puzzle of life, and someway or another, I will mark my legacy.

Thank you all for getting this far and reading, I hope to be back with more regular updates, and for what it's worth, I wish you farewell and all the best, wherever in the world you may wander.

AussieDidge.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Good morning ladies and gentile men, how would you be on this occasion?

Well, this is it. We've reached a bonkers eight parts in this maddening recap, and 20,000 words later, we've finally approached the end. That could just about be the length of a new poetry book, and I cranked everything out in a matter of weeks.

I'm sure poetry will be a lot more entertaining than my rambling, but thank you anyway for indulging me all the same.

Yesterday, we took a peek into the plunging political world as Donald Trump took on his first year as U.S. President, Australia navigated the rocky shoals with Malcolm Turnbull and company, and we also had secession, breakaways, military coups and much more. It provided a lot of interesting tid-bits, and flat out scary situations, as Trump provided quite an aggressive bluster rarely seen in politics, for better or worse. He would try to bully, intimidate, discredit or all three in some way. Every time he opened his mouth, he invited a form of controversy in one way or another.

As the lowest-polling President, both in recent memory, and across every other president when comparing their first years, his journey has so far been a rocky one. I don't hold out hope that he'll actually serve the country, rather than himself, over the rest of his term and beyond, but that's up to him, his Congress, and the history books to write, not me. You can of course read all about it in my previous section.

Today, as is customary with grand finales of the Yearly Yap, I have to wax prose on how my 2017 went on a general note. The good and the bad, the lessons learned, the progress made... Anything that stands out in some way or another. I also aim to talk about what I look forward to in 2018; what I'm hoping will be a massive year of change for me. It'll have to require mental strength beyond what I've shown, an appreciation for risk and no fear of failure.

But if I don't do anything now, nothing will be done, and I'll be yapping about that at the end of this year... No-one wants to hear that I'm sure.

So sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy this overall reflection of mine. It's my hope to be back next year to tell you all about 2018, and a year of success in waiting.

My 2017, To 2018, and Beyond:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Holy balls, I didn’t think 2017 would be a year of excessive recap and reminiscence, but here we are. More than 20,000 words in, enough for a children’s novel in some cases, we’ve just approached this personal shindig, this final chapter that shall explore how my 2017 went on the whole, what to look forward to in 2018, and what I imagine will happen beyond that.

My personal 2017 was both, as far as career progression went, very underwhelming and possibly positive to say the least. I remained with job agencies for the entirety of the time, first with Sarina Russo who proved utterly useless and pathetic, and then signed with Salvation Army’s Employment Plus from November.

I’ve already had one lesson about resume-writing which proved rather interesting and insightful, but everything else has proven kind of meh at the moment.

Try as I may, if I’m motivated to try at all, job searching has proven a very difficult and consuming task, one that I just don’t have the drive to do after so many hours focusing on other tasks like my work, my writing and whatever else.

However, in spite of those negative news, I took on other accreditations and in addition taught myself about text animation, creating those new milestones for those with Pageviews and Watchers to be proud of.

As far as my online presence went, I wrote down some occasional journals, contributed to question-and-answer websites, and tried my best to make new friends en route to a possible career in an industry of choice.

I took on and played a whole bunch of new, amazing games that gave me hours and hours of pleasure, frustration and fun, but of course took away from my writing, my potential business-in-waiting, and more.

I continued to write stories and poetry, hell, I continued to write in as many ways as I could think of. I joined up on Quora on November of last year, and have already contributed over 100 answers since then, about 1 or 2 a day on average. Maybe I’ll find myself contributing more in future.

I began updating and revising my older works of poetry, wherever I could. Who knows how much I’ll end up writing, but I’m led to believe that, with some new animation skills and ideas about graphics, I could present my poetry as something more unique than simple black text on a green background.

As far as other avenues went, I continued working in Salvos Stores for the entire year, and enjoyed customer interactions, staff events and purchases that tested my skills and abilities to keep up. I met new folks I got along with, and found old friends that came back, as they tried to carve their way into full-time work.

As far as 2017 went, while I took steps in bettering myself and making myself more skilled, it wasn’t a year I could be entirely proud of. I learnt and applied so much, but didn’t take or seek opportunities as they came.

I continued giving my heart and soul to those who needed it, but failed to live for myself. Of all the things I could’ve done, I never sought them out.

I was too apprehensive or unsure of the direction I wanted to take, and as I approach my 26th year on this Earth, that fear and self-doubt is only going to cost me more and more. 2018 has to, for me, be a year that I do a complete 180 on my life. I need to make those leaps, one way or another.

2018 has to be that year. It has to be a year where I grab my driver’s licence, I continue on the path of studying and learning, I join some social clubs to continue my pathways, and perhaps continue looking for work so that I can finally move away from these job agencies, these pinnacles of false advertising and inflated hopes.

Or, I just take the risk and move away from job agencies and government payments period. While I may forgo some okay money in a year, what could I do with the potential 2000 or more hours that I save not going to Work for the Dole and looking for jobs in my spare time, if I even could be bothered?

Let me be clear from the outset that I’m not expecting good grace or anything from pouring my heart out like this (I mean, becoming a lazy, unemployed bum? That’s enough to spark fury in a lot of people.)

But when going nowhere, whether you’ve learnt what you could or have people who refuse to take you further, do you think there comes a time when you have to make that leap of faith yourself?

I have ideas, ambitions and dreams beyond the ordinary nine-to-five, at least in my personal belief, but I have to consider the benefits and costs of everything before I proceed. Risk potential investing money, but gain thousands of hours of potential knowledge to improve myself drastically.

University still remains out of the question for the time being, as the life experiences I could learn are too wide-reaching to ignore. After a year’s worth of learning on the job, taking on skill-building courses and more, I don’t think that opinion will change any time soon.

2018 has to be my time now. I have to make it happen, or else continue struggling well into my adult years.

Either settle for mediocrity, or go for the gold. That’s the story of my life, going into 2018.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve finally made it! After almost 21,000 words, we’ve actually reached the end of a tumultuous 2017. Countless hours over two weeks dedicated to writing about a year that made 2016, both fucked-up and fantastic, look like a Sunday school picnic.

Needless to say, if you had read through all the way to the end, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your enduring patience and compassion. Your ability to listen to my raving rotgut ramblings deserves some kind of medal, and I only wish I could give you one.

2018 has already seen two weeks cut off with almost unbelievable haste, and I can imagine in no time at all that we’ll be back here, reflecting on those interesting days as usual.

For the last time, until the next time, I want to wish everybody a very safe, prosperous, and above all Happy New Year for 2018 (not to mention very late, either.) May all your dreams become reality, all your wishes come true, and your life blessed with good fortune.

Thank you so much for reading, and once again, this is AussieDidge wishing you well, wherever in the world you may wander.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Good morning and welcome back all! AussieDidge here with the latest volume in the massive recap of 2017; the highlights, low-lights and bright lights that we experienced throughout!

Now that we got the positives out of the way, I'd best get serious for a moment.

This next section will prove to be a controversial one. Now I know what you're thinking: "It's politics, OF COURSE there has to be some problems!"

But as I examine what made 2017 an interesting year for politicians and governments around the world, focusing more on Australia and the United States, I have to take an aside to mention that Donald Trump is going to be mentioned quite a bit in this examination of mine.

It's also likely that NONE of it will be any positive. As I wrote some time before, I gave him a chance to surprise us all. I figured "Hey, he might very well do a complete 180 and become the best President."

That goodwill lasted all of a month, if I'm being generous.

In amongst a cavalcade of lies, aggressive blustering, provocation, constant need for validation and a clear lack of empathy towards both his and international citizens through various policies, he has proven himself to be every bit the problem a lot of us thought he would be.

Strap yourselves in folks, and look, if you support Trump, by all means feel free to comment, as long as you keep it civil and constructive. I've tried my best on my end, I only ask the same of you.

All the warnings and yapping out of the way, let us begin:

The Political Plunge:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


When it came to politics, I thought we had reached our nadir from a worldwide point of view. Now while I’ll try to balance moments from my own Australia, the United States and internationally, I must give fair warning.

Due to the nature, or at least ambition, of his and his team’s various policies, most of this will focus on Donald Trump and the resulting reactions. How could it not?

Overall, in my existence, no man has tried to benefit himself and/or his high-powered friends so blatantly and obviously as Trump, at the expense of countless millions of his own citizens, many of whom probably supported his campaign, his Presidency, and still, himself on the whole.

In addition, his attitude and handling of the job over the last year has been concerning, to say the least.

Now I won’t pretend that I’m more capable than he is to run the country (as an Australian citizen, I couldn’t anyway, under their Constitution), but I’ve never seen someone so blatantly unready, or unqualified, to take such a commanding position.

I'll also make it clear that I’m not naïve to think that no politician is pure of heart and purely serves the will of the people. They’re out for themselves, and their cronies, under the façade of serving the people’s will.

But is this how far our governments have fallen?

I cannot believe that; in the midst of power grabs, campaign donations, nudge-nudge-wink-wink support and more corrupt behind-the-scenes acts, across both parties, you have to strip away the thought of being nice and considerate.

I get it; the people will support you, but they don’t pay for your advertising. They’ll volunteer for you, but all the man-hours in the world can’t fight a slick attack campaign.

Hell, they may even have brilliant ideas, but not the connections to see them through.

Kind of makes me wish for a presidential candidate who uses online funding or donation services, like as a grassroots campaign. That could become an interesting ride with intriguing results.

I’ll try to refrain from personal insults and other derogatory slings (since others have already proven more vicious and more truthful than I could ever be) but know that these next sections won’t take any mercy on him either.

We first begin in January as Trump called up our Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull (and we’ll get to him and Canberra soon.)

While things began very cordially, with greetings, best wishes to mutual friends and compliments on their similar backgrounds, things quickly tail-spun out of control when Turnbull brought up border control, and his program to bring in 12,000 Syrian refugees, majority of whom were Christian.

Trump continued to ramble in several cases; first about the statistics of Syrians who came to the United States, him justifying the total Syrian immigrant ban, complaining about the U.S. being a dumping ground, and seemingly getting angrier and angrier even as Turnbull explained, carefully, the process of vetting and discretion that Trump and his country would have in taking on those citizens.

Even as Trump slung insults, complained, interrupted, stereotyped and even seemed prepared to back out of previous obligations, Turnbull kept his cool and tried, in vain, to tell the whole story. Calling it “the most unpleasant call” he had all day, Trump just had enough, and the call lasted less than half an hour.

Perhaps it was a sign of things to come… A 24/7 “My way or the highway” situation, with an easily-angered leader (or a massive nuclear arsenal) to face if we didn’t comply.

January wouldn’t even finish before Trump:
  1. Fired AG Sally Yates for ordering her DOJ employees to not enforce his travel ban due to doubts on its legality (EO 13769);

  2. Asked former FBI Director James Comey in a one-on-one dinner to pledge his loyalty to him (Didn’t know General Zod inspired him so much), and;

  3. Began signing other Executive Orders that would expedite environmental reviews and approvals, scaling back the Affordable Care Act (oh we’ll get to that one), beginning construction on the Mexican border wall, and reducing the number of federal regulations.

So fire someone for wanting to perform checks and balances, have someone of considerable pull swear loyalty to him, and sign orders to begin the process of screwing with as many people as possible. Did I read those right, or rather, in some way accurately?

Oh boy, this is going to be a long, long trek to get through.

February rolled around, and we had the swearing in of rather questionable choices for cabinet positions; Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, and Jeff Sessions as AG.

Further to that, he would enlist Linda McMahon as Administrator of Small Business (since WWE was a struggling, grassroots company after all. :unimpressed:).

We also had the beginning of a months-long campaign to discredit the mainstream media, which only grew more brazen and crazy as time rolled on.

Barrings from press briefings, insults, attacks and what have you, as he tried his best to ‘take to task’ the “dishonest” media. My implied words, not his.

March, and we had a public accusation of Obama wire-tapping him, a revised Travel Ban, a formal repeal draft of the ACA, a release of Trump’s 2005 tax returns showing a serious loss that year, and his Vice President would cast a 2nd tie-breaker vote to defund Planned Parenthood.

And that was just the first three months. Other ‘highlights’, if you will, over the nine months after included these little gems:
  1. Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement in June, an almost entirely worldwide agreement that dealt with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance that would begin in 2020.

  2. Removing James Comey from his position as FBI Director, and disclosing classified information to the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador, just in May. One already sounded suspicious given what happened before, but the next one just seemed to dig the hole further.

  3. States in July that he cannot accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military… Not that Trump could tell from personal experience, but hey, he just can’t have those with bigger spines and hearts outshining him all the time, right?

  4. That shiveringly frightening “fire and fury” speech given in August, in relation to North Korea’s consistent threats, and his “good people on both sides” argument relating to the Charlottesville protests that same month… One side were neo-Nazis, the other were anti neo-Nazis. We’ve got to this point, have we?

  5. Continues pressing threats against North Korea in September at the UN General Assembly, indicating possible further action against the Venezualan president, and calling the Iranian nuclear deal an “embarrassment.”

  6. Very poorly treated the disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico, by action and speech, following the horrific Hurricane Maria which caused almost $100 billion in damage, and is considered by far the worst natural disaster on record within those nations.

  7. Passing the expensive ‘Tax Cut and Jobs Act’ which abolished particular credits and estate taxes, and drastically sliced corporate tax by almost half, 35% to 20%. $1.4 TRILLION more in debt, and who do you think THAT will benefit more?

Now some may argue that Trump did SOME good work while being President, after all, surely no man could run on an ENTIRE list of cons with no pros given, and there is a full Wikipedia timeline of his presidency available for each quarter, with the notable events that occurred.

Maybe, he's actually benefited your life in some way or another. I mean, hopefully something more concrete and long-term than "sticking it to those snowflakes and libtards."

Just remember, they're not the only ones in Trump's crosshairs... You are too.

Sometimes, those cons can heavily outweigh the pros, and as much as I gave him a chance to dance, to see if he could surprise us all, I only grew older and wearier of his bullshit. As far as I’m concerned, he and his Congress can take a long, long walk out of the White House, out of the United States and out in the middle of the ocean.

But though there was the bad news; the things that should’ve alarmed or at least concerned any being of conscience and thought, there were some quite positive things to take from 2017 that perhaps showed the will of the people in ways we hadn’t seen in decades.

Though the damage might be lasting, regardless of how long the show lasts, there were pockets of resistance everywhere you could look, and protests far as the eye could see. For all the posturing, taunting and Tweeting Donald Trump did, it would seem that, as far as actual legislation went, he got next to absolutely nothing through.

Whether blocked by the justice system, repeatedly frustrated in some way or completely thwarted in other ways, which thankfully included a number of situations I described above, most of the man's ambitions went completely unheeded.

It gives me a great sense of relief to type that, dreading what could’ve happened had the opposite been true.

And it wasn’t just the legislators who struck down his new laws or the Appeals judges who denied request after request of his, it was the common people who stood up to him too.

In fact, the Women’s March directly after his Inauguration Parade would outnumber him 12.5 to 1 (at least, if we go by 5 million versus 400,000 people) in one of the largest political demonstrations for the country.

April was the Tax March, pressuring Trump to release his current tax returns. A mere week after that was the March for Science.

Those three protests alone were just the organised events. How ‘bout the thousands of people who gathered in quick time at the airports, following the signing of an Executive Order called the Muslim ban?

Neo-Nazi rallies in Boston and Charlottesville were met with equal and sometimes overwhelming resistance from counter-protesters.

We’re talking those who refused to dignify that just because Trump was president, off the back of a horrible, hateful campaign, that they would stand idle and watch those dark souls be emboldened and empowered.

Speaking of those dark souls, the campaign of #MeToo would begin with the downfall of Harvey Weinstein and spread like a forest fire across the realm of powerful people and influential celebrities all around the world.

It would continue spreading with impunity and claiming those who thought they got away with everything. It would even reject a would-be guaranteed Republican election in Alabama, via Senator Roy Moore, as sexual accusations were levelled against him (and that’s to say nothing of his other backwards thoughts and behaviours.)

To say the least, for a year that could’ve proven as extremely concerning for a lot of parties involved, whether that involved policy, blustering threats or otherwise, it was also a year where resistance and courage reached levels that defied and beggared my previous beliefs.

It was something I had never seen a collected population do with such frequency and such ferocity. I can only hope that level of resistance continues well into the reign of Trump and the Republican Congress, to serve as both lessons to him AND to future Presidents.

That the inscription of “Of The People, By The People, For The People” will never be ignored again.

We now move a few thousand miles to my side of the globe, and how advanced Australia fared in the world of 2017 politics. At least, as far as being a decent nation goes, I guess.

We had some very moving and particularly powerful moments which we could proudly lay our hats on, but we also had very puzzling or questionable moments that made a big mess in Parliament.

Let’s get the bad things out of the way first. Stormy seas must be navigated before approaching pristine waters.

There was the ‘important discovery’ of Scott Ludlam, a Greens senator who called a press conference and declared he would resign after a public tip-off that he was still a New Zealand citizen (and therefore, ineligible to sit in Parliament.)

Because of dual citizenship laws outlined in our Constitution, and specifically, allegiance to a foreign power (make of that what you will), we had several names over the year’s course plummet overboard as their citizenships were discovered and brought to light.

In just one month and perhaps change, we lost a staggering SEVEN members of Parliament due to this discovery; co-deputy leaders and their co-deputies, the Resources Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, a minor party leader and other important names.

And that was just the warning swell of a massive tide that would sweep the nation.

Following the High Court’s decision (via Sykes v. Cleary) in November, another four or five members bit the bullet and resigned. President of the Senate, an MP with majority pull, and more.

And that doesn’t even begin to mention the other parts of Section 44 that could have members in hot water.

Something tells me we’ve only heard the beginning of this hot mess, and that 2018 may plan on claiming a lot more victims yet.

We also had particular members of Parliament face demotion and eventually resignation over dealings with foreign powers, particularly Sam Dastyari of Labor. The powerbroker and wunderkind from New South Wales, who’d only been in federal Parliament for four years, was forced to resign.

Asking his businessman friend to cover political costs, speaking at a number of Chinese-held conferences, contradicting territorial disputes on the South China Sea, and more only hammered additional nails in his political coffin, and even now, there are petitions with thousands of signatures calling for him to be charged with treason.

Perhaps an awfully strong message comparing to what was done, but nonetheless one that certain other political figures need to consider as they run their parts of the world.

We even had a flouting of parliamentary rules as Treasurer Scott Morrison brought a lump of coal into the chamber (props are banned in there) as he taunted Labor with it:

“This is coal. Don’t be afraid, don’t be scared. It won’t hurt you!”

Morrison, you’re kidding me right? Hasn’t anyone taught you that sometimes, it’s not the thing ITSELF that harms you, it’s how it’s used?

I could bring an untouched cigarette, a bottle of alcohol, or even a fully-loaded gun into Parliament, by your reasoning. They cannot possibly harm you by themselves!

But if I were to start lighting up and poisoning the chamber’s air (while ingesting thousands of cancer-causing chemicals, to boot?)

If I were to down the entire bottle of Scotch or single-malt whiskey and fly into a drunken rage during a debate, possibly threatening the safety of its members?

What if I were to suddenly snap and just BLAM BLAM BLAM with no purpose or reason, possibly KILLING someone?

Let me make this clear; coal as an item in itself doesn’t harm anybody. It’s a piece of blackened rock; might be sharp on some edges, but aside from that, nothing.

But you start burning it, processing it, generating power from it… That use will spew forth toxic by-products that continue to affect our planet, and in larger quantities, may even cause irreversible damage.

As power prices continue to rise and blackouts become an ever-present threat, a new energy policy had to be on the horizon, a contingency plan if you will. Of course, as the Coalition (in the name I guess) teared itself to shreds over it, nothing seemed to get done.

Of course I already mentioned that phone-call with Trump from Malcolm Turnbull, so you can scroll back for that lot.

There were some severe crises that reared their heads in 2017, and political in-fighting and mud-slinging was a very common sight both in the news and within the very chambers they resided in.

But there was one piece of incredible, society-defining news in 2017 when late November rolled around. Following an expensive, and some argue worthless, same-sex plebiscite to determine whether it should be legal or not, and then the postal vote a month or so after, Australia raised their collective voices, and made it happen.

Same-sex marriage was now made legal in Australia, passing both houses of Parliament with a significant 61.6 percent vote of support. Celebrations were everywhere; in the political spectrum, out on the streets, in the public galleries and in the dozens of protests and gatherings that formed when the news first broke.

Now of course, there were quite a few pockets of resistance and even sneaky tactics that were utilised to retain the status quo of marriage remaining traditional. But clearly, no amount of finagling, screaming, threatening or fear-mongering would help as Australia made their opinions clear.

I personally voted “YES” to allow same-sex marriage to happen. Seriously, what the fuck do I care whether you love a man or a woman, regardless of who you are?

There’s a difference between something becoming legal, and becoming mandatory, and I don’t think in a society like Australia that same-sex marriage becomes mandatory.

Long as you don’t force me into your lifestyle, I say screw, marry, love whoever you want. It’s not my business, and I’m sure not going to rely on a storybook, playing the longest game of Chinese Whispers in history, to make rational decisions on everyone’s lives.

In other news around the world, we had of course the looming nuclear crisis in North Korea as Kim Jong Un approved and oversaw various missile tests, the entire Brexit deal as the United Kingdom considered and later began withdrawing from the EU, we had so many high-profile resignations from every nation we could name, and so on.

We had the long-reigning penis potato Robert Mugabe succeeded after a military coup, after years of ruling Zimbabwe with an iron fist. Millions killed or displaced, as well as famines, violence, severe economic decline and sanctions defined his 30-year tenure as President, and most men and women both there and in Western culture must be glad to see him go.

Northern Ireland struggled without a government for almost the entirety of 2017.

There were Spanish secessions, indictments, more.

Make no mistake, 2017 for the political spectrum was one doozy of a year. And I can imagine that in 2018, it’s going to get even more interesting from here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, we sure plunged the depths of the political world in 2017, and good news for everybody, there’s just one more section to go! Part Seven will explore my personal experiences with 2017, what I can look forward to in 2018, and perhaps beyond that as well.

What are my dreams and ambitions for this particular year? Can I see myself achieving them, or at least working in that direction?

Find out in the final chapter of my marvellous annual manifesto. Or meandering yearly yap-fest, I guess. Wouldn’t blame you after all these words I’ve written. ;p
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Right past the crack of midnight, I wish you welcome! Thanks for coming back once again to see me rip 2017 a new one, and I certainly hope you enjoy your stay!

Last time we took a look into the worlds of music and movies where we damned Despacito to hell, praised flicks like Jumanji and Thor: Ragnarok, and of course crunched numbers and waxed prose on whether 2017 was a successful year for movies or not.

For Part Six, it's time we mourned and reflected on the lives and accomplishments of some of the greats that left us in 2017.

If we thought 2016 was a tough year to stomach, 2017 did its best to punch us there repeatedly.

It reads like quite a venerable list; several names from blessed childhoods, from memories of sport, unforgettable comedians, comic geekdom and more departed for the crossroads, and we must say farewell and Godspeed for the ones who left us.

So get your tissues ready, take pauses between breaths, and join me as we salute our fallen.

For Whom the Death Bell Tolls:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As another stadium full of souls departed this Earthly plane, a massive comic convention full of fans just disappeared in a puff of smoke, we find ourselves once again ending the year reflecting on death and dying.

A morbid way to nearly finish this recollection, but it stands to reason that it must be done.

Last year proved to be a very difficult sort of year for movie, music, and sports fans; from my list we lost the likes of George Michael, Muhammad Ali, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, and especially Alan Rickman, amongst a formidable list of names who were beloved across the world.

How on Earth could that be topped? Well, 2017 did its damnedest to try.

Let’s begin with the world of music. Over the last twelve months, 2017 took from us the likes of the irreplaceable Chuck Berry, the undeniable Malcolm Young, the incredible Fats Domino, and the undisputable Chester Bennington.

Chuck Berry, known throughout the music world for classic rock n’ roll hits like Roll Over Beethoven, Johnny B. Goode, No Particular Place to Go, and more, as well as his incredible showmanship and ability to entertain, passed away at age 90 from a reported cardiac arrest.

Though it was expected in a sense, it was still rather stinging to watch a man, who could potentially influence musical genres for centuries with his work, leave us like that.

He was a guy whose aura seemed to make him invincible, seemed to outlive any thought of him actually dying.

I could remember from memory the starting guitar riffs and strains of a number of his songs, not to mention the various covers that were produced in the wake of his successful releases.

And that’s forgetting to mention his various live performances. Whether it was his early beginnings, his prime or even as recently as five years ago, this man could perform dances and moves that’d make any gym buff blush.

Whether it was his famous duck walk or his one-legged hopping across the stage (since paid tribute to by God knows how many artists), he did things no man of any advanced age should do.

Of course however, the 1970s were a time of ego for Berry, as he toured around the country with bands that he thought would know his music no matter where he went.

The quality of his performances dipped and peaked, as touring bands were expected to just keep up; results were brilliant at their best, but downright awful at their worst.

But beyond all that, and I mean literally beyond, a few samples of his work would transcend the stars as they were made Golden Records to travel through interstellar space.

Dubbed the “Voyager Golden Records” they would continue to travel, in hopes of encountering alien life who’d take interest in the culture and life on Earth.

Malcolm Young, the man who formed AC/DC with brother Angus, and gave us classics like Long Way to the Top, Jailbreak, TNT, Highway to Hell and High Voltage (of dozens I might add), passed away at 64 from deteriorating health; dementia, heart problems and more plaguing, and eventually taking, his life.

Over the nearly 45 years this group have saluted those about to rock, they sold a staggering 200 million albums worldwide, with nearly 72 million of them in the United States alone.

Malcolm, as a rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter, provided much of the core for that amazing success.

Much like Chuck Berry, I can remember quite a number of their intros and guitar riffs, especially one of my favourites, Long Way to the Top.

But more than that, they had incredible visuals to go with their music; Long Way to the Top was well-remembered for the flatbed truck travelling down Swanston Street in Melbourne, with each band member rocking out and closely followed by the Rats of Tobruk Pipe Band.

It would even be re-enacted nearly 35 years later to protest liquor licensing laws that threatened live music. Same place, same flatbed truck, and ten thousand strong marching down the street.

Bon Scott and Brian Johnston were excellent on vocals, the guitar riffs and sounds were amazing… But without Malcolm and Angus, none of those would’ve been possible.

We also had Fats Domino leave us from natural causes at 89 years of age. The Fat Man was a pianist and singer-songwriter who gave us a swathe of Top 10 hits, not only in one decade but throughout his career.

Mixing traditional rhythm and blues with saxophone, bass, piano, electric guitar and drums, he would go on to sell over 65 million records, and have several certified Gold Records within that lot.

Impressive on its own, but mix that with Domino’s anxiety, shyness and humility, and it becomes a great deal more inspirational.

The amount of fight he had to conquer mental demons like those is something I wish I could have, and hope can be built up in future.

Over the course of his career, he would become one of the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, entered various Hall of Fames over 30 years, would receive the National Medal of Arts and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and more.

There was even the time he was caught up in Hurricane Katrina’s destructive force, and somehow survived.

But apart from all that, the man and his music would become such an influence that he is considered a factor of breaking down racial segregation in the United States, since black and white youths would come together in appreciation of his music.

While not a sole contributor to that obviously, there’s no denying such an influence on society.

Lastly, there was Chester Bennington, a man who sang of his demons for decades before they finally claimed him in July last year. And my God, did he have a select list to choose from…

Sexual abuse, an ugly divorce, serious drug and alcohol abuse, physical bullying… And all before he turned seventeen.

However, he would work through the immense struggle to be signed up with the future members of Linkin’ Park, and together with Mike Shinoda and company, would go on to become the best-selling band of the 2000s, sell over 68 million records worldwide and win two Grammys for their work.

I didn’t listen to much Linkin’ Park growing up, but even I experienced my share as they played a bunch of songs on various music shows and whatnot. One Step Closer and In The End were songs I was familiar with to a degree, but that would discount dozens of other hits including Numb, Bleed It Out, New Divide and more.

To the world of movies and TV, and perhaps one of the biggest deaths felt in 2017 was that of Adam West, claimed by leukaemia at the age of 88.

The original ‘60s Batman and a damn fine voice artist in his own right as he portrayed himself as Mayor West in Family Guy, he over a sixty-three year career would do almost everything under the sun.

While we remember him for Batman and Mayor West, he would also perform in over two dozen movies and dozens more TV shows to varying degrees.

Guest-starring in several of the sitcoms we’ve come to know and love, he ensured that no-one would forget him any time soon. I certainly didn’t, and make no mistake, his prime came well before I could even be aware of such a thing.

I guess the Heavens would eventually use The Bat-Signal to call West to action, and dutiful as always, he answered.

The world got quite a lot sadder with the passing of Jerry Lewis, a comedic kingpin and movie star in his own right, who died from cardiovascular disease at the age of 91.

A superstar of slapstick comedy, one of few men honoured with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and host & emcee of The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon for five decades, the man carved out one hell of a legacy.

Tributes and spoofs abound, from TV shows to cartoons to movies, have come to surface thanks to his incredible work; several episodes of Animaniacs, Hanna-Barbera cartoons and more that have put his routines and comedic lack of indoor voice to great use.

In addition to the tonnes of individual achievements and countless people he inspired, his Labor Day Telethon, from inception to his finish in 2009, would raise a ridiculous $2.45 billion for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Call it what you will, but that’s a generosity that probably hasn’t been matched before, and never will since.

Two forefathers of the horror genre in Tobe Hooper and George Romero would also leave us in 2017; the former who gave us Poltergeist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and the latter being the Father of the Zombie Film with classics like the “of the Dead” series.

For better or worse, Romero’s work with bringing imagined zombie apocalypses to life on film set in motion an incredible set of events; great use of effects for the time, twists and turns that scared audiences senseless, and quality directing that would set in stone what was expected of a quality zombie film.

While today we have zombies that are more cliché than threat (unless done really well) the man they call the Godfather of the Dead knew the best ways to use these creatures, and made them into the terrifying monstrosities we know and love today.

Tobe Hooper, meanwhile, gave us two films that have stood the test of time since, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist. Massacre would become the “Paranormal Activity” of its generation, grossing over $30 million from a tiny budget of $300 thousand, a 100-fold return.

Directing, producing, writing and providing the music for the film, Hooper created a film that is still seen as influential on the horror genre, over 40 years since initial release.

Poltergeist, meanwhile, would become one of the top-ten highest grossing films of its year, and chances are, would’ve handily won its three Oscar nominations were it not for E.T., another massively popular film of the time.

Still, it would’ve been hard to forget the effects of Carol Anne being sucked into that hellish dimension, the effects of one horrible hallucination and much more. 35 years ago, and I don’t think anyone could forget anything like that any time soon.

Robert Guillaume, who most of us would know as Rafiki from The Lion King series, would also sadly pass away at 89 years of age, after a battle with prostate cancer.

A man who made a mandrill an incredibly wise, fatherly figure to Simba, and beloved friend and minister to Mufasa (well, as far as Pride Rock animals go), Robert would also have lauded roles as the butler in Soap and its spin-off Benson, both sitcoms that parodied the concept of soap operas.

And in a rare first, he would become the first African-American to portray the lead role in Phantom of the Opera.

For me personally, he spoke words that still resonate with me twenty years after he said them. That I know of, he didn’t really have a lot of lines in the Lion Kings that he appeared in, but quality over quantity shone through as he made each of his spoken lines and actions MATTER.

But I guess, to use Rafiki’s own words to sum up… “My work here, is done.”

In addition, we had other esteemed names leave us;

Sir Roger Moore, of James Bond and UNICEF ambassadorial fame, ‘had his six’ when liver and lung cancer claimed his life at 89.

With films like Live and Let Die, Golden Gun, Moonraker and A View to a Kill within his extraordinary resume, a Commander of the British Empire designation for charity work, and a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, he became 007, and left as a GOAT.

Frank Vincent, known for his tough-guy roles in Martin Scorsese films like Goodfellas, Casino and Raging Bull, and even dabble with classic video game voiceovers such as in GTA III and San Andreas, would leave as a Don of Mafia roles when a heart attack claimed his life.

Monty Hall, long-time presenter of Let’s Make A Deal, lender of name to a famous probability problem, and philanthropist who raised nearly a BILLION dollars for charity, got zonked out of life’s game as heart failure claimed him at the stunning age of 96.

What made LMAD stand out was the audience costumes, a rarity now and certainly an implausible idea back then, which would work incredibly well.

Last but not least, Miguel Ferrer, who voiced the fearsome Hun overlord Shan Yu and even dabbled in superhero films (Iron Man series), action cop series (NCIS: LA) and Twin Peaks, would sadly lose his life from throat cancer at the relatively young age of 61.

I’d most remember him as Shan Yu, the vicious, commanding presence who spoke little, but made each word, and each order, count.

As a completely stark contrast to the happy-go-lucky, dim-witted soldiers of Captain Shang’s regiment, he was every bit the believable threat that could only be bested by Mulan’s guile, bravery and complete disregard for law even in the face of death.

“How many men does it take to send a message?” “One.”

And Ferrer sure as hell did so.

 
To sports now, and sadly we had our share of permanent knockouts, heavenly cross-overs and Loser Leaves Life matches, if we consider pro wrestling a sport that is.

Far as I’m concerned, given the real risk of injury and death, the competitive aspect and other factors, it certainly is even if the results are pre-determined.

We first say goodbye to Connie “The Hawk” Hawkins, who died at the age of 75 after amassing defining performances in the ABA, ABL and NBA in spite of being caught up in a points-shaving scandal and expelled and blackballed as a result.

This was unfair, as NCAA rules of the time prevented him from even participating in the first place.

In spite of his very rough start in his basketball career, he still pushed on to become one of the undeniable greats of the game, defining resilience and persistence with every day he played.

Jake LaMotta, who we briefly mentioned before, would also lose by permanent knockout due to pneumonia complications at the age of 95.

Known for his diamond chin that took as well as he gave, for developing what most boxers today call a swarmer or slugger style, and for his amazing 83 win, 19 loss record over nearly 15 years of fights, he was widely considered one of the best middleweight boxers to ever lace up the gloves.

He was also well known for his very turbulent life outside of the ring; in addition to owning bars, performing stand-up comedy, serving on a chain gang and even acting or having a cameo in films, he had also been married seven times, had admitted to several horrible crimes such as rape, spousal assault and manslaughter, and appeared as subjects in several documentaries and stage productions.

End of the day, he fought against life’s games like he fought his bouts; aggressively, viciously and taking everything on the chin. Perhaps as a person he won’t be too fondly remembered, for various reasons, but as a boxer, there’s no denying his legacy in the sport.

In the colourful world of pro wrestling, we lost several top-tier names of both wrestlers and managers alike. Bobby Heenan, best known as “The Brain” during his tenure, and best known for being considered the top professional manager of all time, would sadly pass away from organ failure, via remissive throat cancer, at the age of 72.

A sharp quick wit, an ability to draw vicious negative reactions and his incredible commentary work with Gorilla Monsoon made him grow into an integral, crucial feature of the 80s wrestling boom, as he managed ginormous heels like King Kong Bundy and Andre the Giant at WrestleManias II and III respectively.

Ivan Koloff, one of the men to slay the unconquerable Bruno Sammartino and end his massive eight year long reign as world champion, would also lose his battle with life as liver cancer claimed him at 74 years of age.

Back in the late 60s and early 70s, Sammartino was by far and wide THE one to beat; the man who would eventually sell out Madison Square Garden over 150 times in a stunning career. But with a single knee drop and 3-count in 1971, the whole world fell silent, as Koloff claimed the win. The place nearly RIOTED as a result of the shock victory.

He would spend over 30 years in the wrestling business, before becoming a minister and speaking openly and candidly about becoming a born-again Christian and his struggles with alcohol and drugs.

Writing books, touring the world and even being involved in a lawsuit against WWE, the premier wrestling company (like it or not), he would finally bow out merely a year and a half later, after a life well lived.

Next was George Steele, known around pro wrestling circles as The Animal, and noted for frequently biting down and snacking on numerous turnbuckle pads over the years. At the age of 79, he would munch his last stuffing before kidney failure claimed his life.

For over twenty years he would grace, or rather scare, pro wrestling circles as his green tongue, wild man persona, crazy antics and nonsensical words grabbed the attention of audiences far and wide. Once done, he would become a teacher, author and sometime actor, portraying Tor Johnson in Tim Burton’s comedy-drama film Ed Wood.

In addition, we would lose Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, best known for his death-defying splash off a steel cage back in the 80s, against Don Muraco, which inspired countless others to pursue the sport, his various feuds against top villains like Roddy Piper, The Undertaker and The Million Dollar Man, and his occasional appearances in the modern-day WWE.

Sadly, we can’t ignore his rather tense past as he was eventually charged and later acquitted (due to mental health issues) of the 1983 murder of then-girlfriend Nancy Argentino.

With his health declining every day, he would eventually succumb to terminal illnesses at the age of 73.

And finally, in various other categories, we had the passing of Playboy Founder and media pioneer Hugh Hefner, and legendary comedian, actor and sometime voice actor Don Rickles.

Hefner, who advocated for sexual liberation and freedom of expression with Playboy’s publication, would take on a major risk by mortgaging his house, generating bank loans of $600 and raising at least $8,000 from investors in the early 50s (back when you could pay next to nothing for goods and services), and hit major success in the end of 1953, selling well past 50,000 copies.

From there, Playboy took off, breeding the concept of ‘centrefolds’ and beautiful women in scanty clothing way back when conservative eras wouldn’t dare allowing such a thing.

Though not without his share of controversies, and some might say questionable choice of charities, the man was and forever will remain a media and culture pioneer.

He would lose his life at 91 due to a quadruple whammy of causes; cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, sepsis and an E. coli infection.

Meanwhile, Don Rickles, after decades of angering and entertaining us with vicious, well-regarded insult comedy, for his popular guest appearances on TV talk shows, his occasional dabbling with acting (including as Billy Sherbet in Casino, a real great film) and of course, who could forget his role as Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story series?

Known for heaping vicious lashings on audiences, celebrities and even mob figures alike, no man or woman was safe from his roastings.

Though he died from kidney failure at the grand age of 90, widely regarded as one of the best insult comedians ever, it could’ve been very different had it been for one fateful night in 1972.

Following a performance at the Copacabana that year, he befriended “Crazy” Joe Gallo, who took his merciless ribbings in good humour and invited him to Umberto’s Clam House after his show.

Finding an excuse and declining, Rickles had no idea of knowing that that night, a gunfight would erupt killing his new friend.

Had he gone, there likely wouldn’t have been a Billy Sherbet, Mr. Potato Head, or even decades more of venom-laced insults. Sometimes, saying no can save lives, starting with your own.

And so they were among the leaving legends, the heavens-bound Hall of Famers, the dearly departed that once graced us with their presence. We will never forget them, as their achievements, their legacies, their accolades transcend anything that most of us would ever be capable of. Vale and rest in peace to all those names mentioned, and may their contributions to society never be forgotten.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phew, after some 3,500 words of sombre reflection, we finally proceed with the ten-gong salute for all those who left us, and wish their families, friends and fans condolences for such tremendous losses.

Tune in for Part Seven, where I plunge through the murky depths of politics, as any reflective pundit would, with views on Donald Trump’s current year-long tenure as President, Malcolm Turnbull’s run as Prime Minister of Australia, and various state candidacies both at home and the US, maybe with sprinklings of other nations thrown in for good measure.

Your iron-willed patience and steel resolve is most appreciated, and I do hope you can stick around for the next one! Peace!
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Good afternoon you perplexing packs of people, let me bid you a warm welcome back to my round-up of what made 2017 a unique year to top 'em all.

Previously I sermonised on the sweet world of sports in 2017, where we saw another chapter in the epic battle between Warrior-born and Cavalier-bred, where we saw amazing comebacks & gritty persistence break through, and we had rare slices of history take place.

The sports world underwent massive changes and swells, but today, it's time we took a look to marvellous, merrie world of melodies and movies; what sung those high notes, what were the most rotten of Rotten Tomatoes, anything that may be worth talking about.

Sit back, relax, and get tuned in, for now it's time for Merrie Melodies and Marvellous Movies!

Merrie Melodies, Marvellous Movies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that we’ve waxed word about the wide world of sports, how did movies and music fare in 2017?

The cinema-going public were treated to quite a number of interesting and worthwhile films, and they were also treated to some serious duds as well. Such is the life of a movie lover.

But did the 2017 year fare better for the various studios who risked tens or maybe hundreds of millions on their projects?

In finding out together, as always, I need to warn you that I’m ready to crunch some numbers and statistics here, and of course, if that doesn’t interest you, you can skip ahead a few paragraphs or so to hear me talk about the movies I watched, and what I thought of them.

First, how did the top ten movies fare, based on box office figures domestic and international?

According to worldwide figures from Box Office Mojo, the top ten grossed a gigantic $8.44 billion worldwide, with about a 40-60 split in domestic vs. international takings.

It did represent another overall fall however; a sight over 5 percent since last year, but as always, you wouldn’t expect Buena Vista to complain as they claimed almost 45% of those takings in just that year alone.

Movies like The Last Jedi, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Beauty & The Beast and the new Pirates of the Caribbean certainly didn’t hurt.

In a bit of a shocking surprise, a completely foreign film entitled Wolf Warrior 2 made that top ten with over $870 million worldwide, the overwhelming majority of which came from foreign grosses.

In a world where Hollywood film studios DOMINATE the scene, hands down, one lone studio surprised us all.

As far as ratings breakdowns went, it was a pretty grim story for the kiddie flicks out there.

Though more movies were released for the PG-rated crowd, they suffered a haemorrhage that nearly bled them dry. That loss? Over one-third of total revenues, over $1.1 BILLION lost in just a single year.

PG-13 movies didn’t fare much better either, bleeding over $450 million that same year, which meant a further drop of 8.4 percent to go with what was lost in 2016.

It wasn’t all bad news for kiddie flicks however. Despite a fairly significant upsurge in revenues for R-rated and unrated movies, the G-rated flicks, with similar movie numbers, raised a massive $167 million in 2017, almost ten times more than the previous year.

To say the least, that was approaching Paranormal Activity levels of returns, though to be fair, no movie could ever do that again.

Of course, I’m halfway expecting that you’ve just skipped all that and you want to know what movies I watched in 2017. I completely get it. Numbers aren’t for everybody, at least, not to the point of obsession I sometimes have with them.

PLEASE READ FROM HERE FOR THE MOVIES I WATCHED.

So, from the beginning to the end of 2017, I watched the following films at the movies:
  1. The new Wonder Woman with Gal Gadot & Chris Pine.

  2. The latest Thor adventure (Ragnarok) with Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, etc., and,

  3. The Jumanji sequel featuring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan.

Huh, I honestly thought I watched more movies than that, but those are the three that I distinctly remember.

I guess this section will be quite short compared to 2016; so perhaps I’ll be able to move on quick.

Let’s begin with Wonder Woman, released in June. Much like Superman and his solo runs with video games, Wonder Woman, as a character, hasn’t had the best of solo runs in film & TV.

Save for one fondly-remembered TV series back in the mid ‘70s, the Amazonian princess couldn’t succeed on the screen to save her life.

So many abandoned projects, direct-to-DVD films, and even lukewarm runs in highly hyped movies like Justice League and Dawn of Justice, though not her fault.

What on Themyscira had to happen for her to get that sweet taste of success?

Well, enter director Patty Jenkins, writer Allan Heinberg, and stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, David Thewlis and others to show us, after decades of struggle, how it was done.

There are reasons why review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes rates it as the best superhero film of all time, beating out Logan, The Avengers, The Incredibles and Superman: The Movie. It was able to beat such tough competition for so many reasons, including (without spoilers):

  1. Epic action scenes in the battlefields of World War I, only with Wonder Woman kicking serious ass and inspiring others to kick ass all the way.

  2. Twists and turns that were perhaps there all along, but when revealed were wonderfully done, rewarding people for paying attention to the film.

  3. Performances from both Gadot and Pine, who did a fantastic job as Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor respectively. The film called for a range of emotions, and they delivered.

  4. The gorgeous visuals of Themyscira which mixed well with the stark, brooding contrast of World War I. Not to mention the stark contrast of utopian life versus the atrocities of war.
Overall, I would give it an easy eight out of ten, as it was just a great film all around. It was the solo show where Gadot shouldered an immense amount of responsibility, and she delivered in spades, backed by a great cast, sharp directing and wonderful writing.

Next was Thor: Ragnarok, and while I enjoyed the first Thor adventure, I never really caught on to the second, and only thought about seeing this for something to do over the weekend.

But it was safe to say, that weekend got a hell of a lot better after we finished watching it.

We had the God of Thunder, Thor, the God of Mischief, Loki, and the Goddess of Death, Hela engage in an epic fight across all of Asgard, through deep, dark space, and much more.

We had Thor and Loki, always constantly at odds, become unlikely allies trying to figure out how to save Asgard from ruin.

We had Thor, crushed and broken beyond his imagining, try to return to Asgard by fighting gladiator battles and reuniting with an old friend and fellow Asgardian.

And in amongst the serious drama and severity of the situation at hand, there were even brief moments of hilarity that were highly enjoyable.

The nods to the Avengers movies, the reveals and reactions, the “Get Help!” scene, and much more kept me grinning, chuckling or laughing right to the end.

And then there was being utterly taken in by Blanchett’s performance as Hela.

There was already the factor of being blown away by the costume; an emerald-green piece with one impressive headdress, but the gravitas with which Cate sold the role, sold me. It made me believe in her as one incredibly lethal threat.

Even though she’s quite petite compared to Hela in the comics, you’re still made to believe, through her powerful acting, that nothing can stop her.

In quite a few scenes, she utterly outclasses Thor, and even makes him doubt himself on more than one occasion. I won’t spoil which, but know that if you’re a Thor fan, you WILL see him struggle.

Great visuals, wonderful costumes, a fine story and characters you really care about make this another enthusiastic 8 out of 10 for me.

There’s no regrets to be had watching this, and hopefully, I’ll pick it up on DVD or Blu-ray soon.

Last but certainly not least, and as recently as a week ago in fact, I would go with my family to watch Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

More than twenty years after the first film, this sequel would arrive to shores right on time for special Christmas Day viewings, and we would be treated to one rather fun family flick.

Years after the original Jumanji game was dumped and washed up on a beach, we returned to that exact same scene, in 1996, to see its sentient self rear its ugly head again.

Upon a dismissive “Who plays board games anymore?” from Alex, it magically becomes a game console with cartridge, and sucks him into their world.

Cut to four high school students in the present day, who eventually discover Jumanji for themselves in a dirty school basement.

These four, brought together by fate, find themselves within the game as well, and they go through utter hell to get back.

Through their weaknesses & strengths, experiences and whatnot, they had to work together to restore Jumanji to its previous glory, all without dying three times.

And some of the levels they experienced… Well, they were complete doozies to say the least.

From an overall viewpoint, it was a film I really enjoyed as well; you had the likes of Johnson, Hart, Gillan and Black portraying their would-be controllers wonderfully.

Johnson was Spencer, or Dr. Bravestone. This scrawny, self-doubting geek becomes the muscular, smouldering explorer, and his first reactions were priceless.

Hell, all of their reactions are, as the four kids play the complete opposite of their personalities and builds.
  1. One jock becomes a nerdy, bookish valet and zoologist,
     
  2. A somewhat outspoken if shy teenager becomes an ass-kicking feminine commando, 

  3. A popular, pretty self-centred girl becomes an obese male cartographer, archaeologist and palaeontologist.

The hilarity came thick as each person tried to get used to various features built into their avatar and, um, ‘features’ that they weren’t familiar with otherwise.

I won’t spoil anything here, but personally, it was one of the funniest moments I saw in the film.

In addition, the concept of being brought into a video game world, lush with green forestry, vicious creatures and NPCs, acting just as they would, gave it a real sense of flexibility.

For a board game, it was already limited by the number of squares and possible rolls. This video game was where anything could happen, and kind of did, in an effort to discourage players from going further.

Let’s just say it does a damn good job of doing so.

Look, maybe the trailers, the rumours it was a remake, and whatever else got things started on the wrong foot, but I’m glad I gave this a chance.

For a family movie to watch at Christmas, en route to a nice meal at McDonald’s, it was a fantastic ride and great tribute to the original movie.

Besides, I didn’t come in expecting or wanting the movie to outdo the original. It was a good family romp, and worth a seven or eight out of ten.

From an overall point of view, I’m kind of surprised that I didn’t watch more movies over 2017, but luckily, in proving quality over quantity, all of them were on the scale of good to great.

Perhaps in 2018, there could be many more releases to look forward to, as the DCEU and MCU continue chugging along. Perhaps I’ll see everyone next year with regards to that.

In the world of music, it was once again more of the same gibberish singing, repetitive hooks and nuisance noises that refused to die in 2017, until the station was switched to much relief.

While there were a few songs that were tolerable I guess, there were even more that I could not hide my contempt for.

Despacito being a BIG one this year, and to varying degrees, songs like Wild Thoughts, I’m the One, Don’t Wanna Live Forever, Paris, Chained to the Rhythm, and Sign of the Times annoyed me as well.

The main issue I had was how popular they’d become, and therefore, how often they would be played. Once in a given day is enough, but I swear on every Holy Book, it felt like one song could be played three or four times in just one shift, and sometimes, within the SAME HOUR.

Fox FM, KISS, Nova 100; they were the serious culprits behind this bullshit.

There were many days I wanted to toss the stereo radio straight out the window, but perhaps out of sheer will I continued working and serving customers.

Not that it stopped me from complaining, as I’ve told a joke about those three mentioned stations.

Honestly, about how they may as well become one big conglomerate station called WTD FM… What’s The Difference?

When we switched to Gold FM, things got a whole lot better. Maybe it was because I grew up with that 70s and 80s music, maybe because they didn’t repeat songs over and over again (they even pledged the 10K No-Repeat Workday) and maybe, just maybe, I could get into the instrumentals more than those other noises.

Once again, revenue from the music industry was projected to eclipse 2016’s figures, thanks in no small part to blistering streaming revenues.

In fact, the industry in general was predicted to have its best year in two decades, back when Ricky Martin, Celine Dion and Will Smith were pumping out hits.

There may be an update into that sometime in the next six months, but for now, we can certainly bet money that the music industry, barring a complete disaster or worldwide musician strike, will just continue growing from strength to strength.

On a personal level, I would download and enjoy a heap of new singles and mixes, thanks mostly to Gold FM, and to YouTube:
  1. Melodic and saxophone mixes, anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour of relaxing, beautiful music,

  2. Classic songs from the 70s and 80s, 

  3. A few particular tracks from great movie & game soundtracks like Treasure Planet, Moana, Sonic & Knuckles, Space Jam and more, 

  4. Extended 12-inch remixes of favourites from my childhood, 

  5. A whole collection from comedic songwriter Kevin Bloody Wilson, and

  6. • Surprisingly, at least a couple of songs from FOX FM, thanks to RnB Fridays… Hey, guess they weren’t all that bad.

There were no live shows I went to compared to last year, but hopefully, I could look forward to seeing Pentatonix either this year or in 2019.

Their acapella work blows me away every single time, and hell, my dad holds a special place in his heart for their rendition of Little Drummer Boy. To be completely fair, so do I.

Other than that, I’m not really sure if there will be any live shows I see. We’ll see what happens I guess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part Five’s all finished, and we’re already cruising past the 13,000 word mark… Chances are, by the time this whole Yearly Yap’s finished, I could be looking at 20,000 words give or take…

Hmm, anyone would be thinking I was writing a doctoral thesis… Instead, I’m just yapping about one unfortunate series of events after another that we must undertake.

Ah well, stick around for Part Six, as we pay tribute to the greats who have left us in 2017, and reflect on the celebration of what people can do, while mourning and grieving for their loss.
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Featured

Didge Digest 2018 - First of the year! by AussieDidge, journal

2017 Didge Digest Yearly Yap (Finale) by AussieDidge, journal

2017 Didge Digest Yearly Yap (Part VII) by AussieDidge, journal

2017 Didge Digest Yearly Yap (Part VI) by AussieDidge, journal

2017 Didge Digest Yearly Yap (Part V) by AussieDidge, journal