#aussie bushfires 2019

[batshit-auspol]

I just spent some time scrolling through this blog and am suffering from sever laughter. Thanks so much for collating the countries craziest moments. One of my favourites is when Scott Morrison was in Hawaii while the bushfires where burning.

December 2019: As Australia's east coast is engulfed in the worst bushfires in living memory, rumours begin to circulate that Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison may have secretly fucked off for a holiday in Hawaii.

Keep in mind, this is what is going down in Australia at the time:

The Hawaii rumour is initially written off as a fringe conspiracy, because surely nobody could be that fuckin tonedeaf, and it was quickly forgotten about... until an Australian man visiting Hawaii UPLOADED A SELFIE ON THE BEACH WITH THE PM THROWING A SHAKA.

At which point all hell broke loose.

Overnight the formerly popular "Scomo" became the most despised man in all of Australia. Think "firefighters shouting out of their windows to news cameras" level of despised.

After about two days of radio silence and pretending like he was still at home running the country, the Prime Minister's handlers finally dragged him onto call with an Australian radio station, where he pinky promised to return to Australia as fast as he could in an attempt to calm things down.

Unfortunately Scott's empathy consultant (a real job) then had to watch Scott pour more gasoline on the dumpster fire by uttering the now famous phrase "Look I don't hold a hose mate" when asked by the radio interviewer why the fucking fuck the fuckhead wasn't fucking in Australia doing his fucking job during a massive fucking crisis.

Testing just how much worse things could get, Scomo then proceeded to NOT rush back to Australia as promised, instead attempting to complete the rest of his holiday, a fact that was exposed when a passerby snapped a picture of him still lounging on the beach two days later.

Eventually, holiday complete, Morrison did reluctantly slink back to Australia, and in an attempt to calm things down, he decided to pay a visit to a small town that had been destroyed by the fires.

Which was a big mistake.

Scomo still had not registered how absolutely and totally he had screwed the poodle with his Hawaiian beach vacation, and he walks into what is now taught in PR classes as one of the greatest examples of "what not do do in a crisis" in all of history.

Scotty from Marketing, as he is now dubbed by the nation, spends a painfully cringe-inducing hour wandering around a burned down town with TV news cameras in tow, having to FORCE PEOPLE TO SHAKE HIS HAND in what is some of the most awkward footage you will ever see.

At this point it's probably also worth mentioning that, before becoming Prime Minister, Scott Morrison's biggest claim to fame in politics was being the guy that was so far up the coal lobby's arse that he literally brought coal into parliament and waved it around, claiming it doesn't hurt people.

So when a protest was organised it turned out to be one big national fuck you to the Prime Minister, the likes of which the world has never seen before or since.

Needless to say, at this point Scomo's career was dead in the water, but thanks to the rules brought in to stop Australian political parties from knifing their leader every two weeks (a popular Aussie passtime) Morrison basically couldn't get fired until after the next election.

And so, when the election rolled around in 2022, we decided that was an opportune time to travel over to Hawaii to erect this bad boy tribute to the Prime Minister, on the very beach where Scomo had sat and drank margaritas that one fateful week in December as Australia burned (thanks to @chaser for funding the ticket)

[33max]

my favourite max verstappen lore 📝

- he donated to a koala hospital during the widespread aussie bushfires in 2019 because "I saw all the images and I found it very sad to see something like that” & "It is of course so difficult to put out fires like that, and then you see those koalas burned alive. I thought perhaps I could help a little."

- max cried in front of the team (11:41*) and helmut marko when he couldn’t take part in qualifying for the monaco 2018 grand prix because of his accident in fp3

*they don’t explicitly say he was crying but it’s implied, especially with the addition of marko’s comments

- max watched a star is born on the plane to a race and was so angry and upset after watching the ending that he went to bed. he apparently would like a sequel where bradley cooper doesn’t die.

- he is scared of big hairy spiders, snakes and… zombies

- max drinks coconut water while racing in f1

- max paid to have the pride flag on his character in among us

- max doesn’t have any heroes, but he does speak about how meeting football player Johan Cruyff had a huge impact on him. He notes that his winning time in Barcelona 2016 — 1hr 41min 40sec — has 14 twice within it, and 14 was Cruyff’s number. he’s almost spiritual about this not being coincidental.

- max didn’t understand what victoria was trying to tell him when she announced she was pregnant! (someone help me source this?)

[reverse-the-jellybaby]

^ yep! Aussie here, I was barely suburbs away from some of the Victorian bushfires in 2019/2020, and I remember I only managed to get respirators right at the tail-end of the bushfire season and promptly said “welp, looks like I won’t be needing these anymore!”

...then the pandemic happened. 

At least if this next summer is going to be a stinker as predicted, I’ll be ready for it.

Climate change is real and happening faster than scientists thought.

[thoughtlessarse]

Scientist discovers a cast of recurring characters using burrows in the aftermath of bushfire, after sifting through more than 700,000 images First came a picture of an inquisitive red-necked wallaby, then an image of a bare-nosed wombat, followed by a couple of shots of the wombat’s burrow with nothing else in the frame. By the time research scientist Grant Linley had looked through a further 746,670 images, he had seen 48 different species visiting the 28 wombat burrows that he had trained his cameras on. Like a lineup of Aussie animals in a children’s book, Linley watched a parade of wallabies and kangaroos, lace monitors and possums, bush rats, button quails, echidnas and tiny marsupial antechinus hanging out at the burrows. Some came to forage or take shelter, some to drink or bathe, and others to partake in a little geophagy (a technical way of saying “eating dirt”). “The idea of [the burrows] being like an Airbnb or a supermarket isn’t a bad analogy of what we’ve observed,” says Linley, a PhD student at Charles Sturt University. The cameras were set up across Woomargama national park and the neighbouring state forest, south of Wagga Wagga in rural New South Wales. Less than 18 months earlier, the forest had been torched as six bushfire fires merged into a gigafire during Australia’s black summer of 2019 and 2020.

continue reading

[designers-downunder]

Australian Music Vault

[1] [2] Australian Music Vault (2019) [Exhibition] Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne. 2017-Present.

The Australian Music Vault – an institution dedicated to the conservation and display of archival materials culturally significant to the music scene in Australia. Located within the Arts Centre in Melbourne, The Australian Music Vault aims to be “a celebration of the Australian contemporary music story – past, present and future” (Australian Music Vault, N.D) and contains several exhibitions which include:

The Real Thing, which focuses on the development of the ‘Australian sound’ from the inclusion of indigenous language and rhythm to well-known genres originating from Australia such as pub rock and aussie hip-hop (Australian Music Vault, 2020). This exhibition focuses on the way music has been influenced by Australian culture, giving “voice to experiences that are both distinctly Australian while somehow universal” (Australian Music Vault, 2020) and how “Australian music has reached across cultural and geographical boundaries to explore new ways of storytelling and reflect an increasingly diverse population” (Australian Music Vault)

The Wild Ones, an exhibition focusing on musicians known for overcoming “social barriers” (Australian Music Vault, 2020) and features artists such as Jimmy Little, Australia’s first indigenous popstar who rose to fame during the 1960s when First Nations people were still yet to be recognised as Australian citizens, and Wendy Saddington who was popular during the 70s for her resilience in a music scene that was male-dominated with the genres of ‘prog rock’ and pub bands (Australian Music Vault, 2020) as well as many other artists. The exhibition also focuses on how artists have improvised and innovated to change or address issues within the industry (Australian Music Vault, 2020)

Agents of Change, which centres around the political side of Australian music where “Australian musicians have long been at the forefront of public debate, addressing concerns and issues that impact society” (Australian Music Vault, 2020). This part of the music vault outlines the numerous times Australian music has been an integral part of a movement such as Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman becoming associated with the Womens Liberation Movement in addition to artists using their career to advocate for indigenous rights like Yothu Yindi and Archie Roach in which their music aims to highlight the suffering and resilience of First Nations people (Australian Music Vault, 2020). However, this exhibition not only focuses on the power of musicians to bring around social change but also the Australian music community, stating how it has come together in times of need like raising money for disaster relief (such as the 1985 East African Tragedy Concert and later Live Aid as well as Wave Aid for the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and Sound Relief in 2009 after the Black Saturday bushfires) (Australian Music Vault, 2020). The exhibition also brings lights to recent activism within Australia’s music scene with the mention of movements such as Save Live Australia’s Music (SLAM) and Mushroom Group’s Voice for Change in response to “the disenfranchisement if minority and migrant groups” (Australian Music Vault, 2020)

Two Way Traffic is an exhibition that centres around musicians “who have come to call Australia home and those who have made their reputations on the international stage” (Australian Music Vault, 2020). Similar to The Real Thing, this exhibition focuses on the international impact of genres originating from Australia albeit more in depth in addition to how international influence has helped to shape the Australian music scene we see today. It also has an emphasis on ‘Ten Pound Poms’ who were musicians that immigrated to Australia through a government-sponsored programme and includes many big names such as Olivia Newton-John, AC/DC and the Bee Gees (Australian Music Vault).

Overall, The Australian Music Vault proves to be a valuable institution in regard to showcasing the story of the Australian music scene from describing its origins to how Australian music is still internationally loved and represented today. The wide collection of memorabilia, instruments, musician notebooks and posters throughout each exhibition helps visitors gain insight into how many well-loved songs and albums came to be in addition to the importance of music and the power it holds to act on bringing about change within Australia. Fashion also plays a big part in the institution’s collection as many costumes and clothing worn by some of Australia’s most famous musicians can be found throughout every exhibition. These costumes range from outfits worn for music events and award shows, including Chinese-Australian singer Mindy Meng Wang’s costume for the 2021 Music Victoria Awards and the outfit worn by Dami Im when she represented Australia in the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm (Australian Music Vault, 2020), to outfits instantly recognisable worldwide such as a costume worn by Kylie Minogue for the music video Come Into My World (2001) and a dress worn by Olivia Newton-John during her ABC TV Special titled Olivia in 1978 (Australian Music Vault, 2020). There are also outfits on display that were worn by artists to provide commentary on social issues such as an outfit worn by Ecca Vandal during her set at the Laneway Music Festival in 2017 (Australian Music Vault, 2020). The collection of the music vault is a prime example of a ‘history’ fashion exhibition in the sense that the fashion holds significance and cultural value in relation to the development of Australian music and music scene over the years – of course, these costumes can be admired for their aesthetical values but their primary function in this exhibition is to showcase what musicians from the country have achieved over the years in addition to contributing to the story being told throughout this series of exhibitions.

[galacticwildfire]

As an Aussie I find it funny growing up watching American tv where they actually cancel school because of bad weather. Because right now there’s that much bushfire smoke it hurts to open your eyes and back when the real bad ones happened a few years ago they didn’t cancel school until it had to be evacuated because they thought an ember attack would burn that side of town down 😭 Fr I remember looking and seeing a cloud of smoke that looked like a volcano had erupted (my iPhone labelled the photo as volcano) and going damn, then realising that it was right near my house. And then hearing a teacher on the phone who lives in the street behind mine getting a call from her husband saying they were being evacuated. And my house was two minutes away from one school and five from the one I was at and they were still running as normal 😭 the roads were fully closed off but the school around the corner from my house was open until evacuations were being issued.

A cropped visual for appropriate school conditions in Australia taken from the school courtyard in December 2019. I think in the cities they might cancel if it's like 40 degrees celcius but everyone in regional areas is just taking math through 40 degree heat and choking on bushfire smoke

Australian schools are all based outside as well unlike american schools, so if it's not class time you're outside.

[doctorwillseeyou]

With Europe burning this poem from the 2019/2020 black summer bushfires in Australia feels apt:

“I love a Sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains. But I’ve gotta tell ya mate, I like it better when it rains. The countryside is dying and there’s just no end in site, and just to rub salt in the wounds, the bush has caught alight.

The landscape is on fire from Brisbane to the Gong

And everybody’s asking “where the hell did we go wrong?

But we can get through this one if we help each other out, take care of your neighbour , that’s what Aussies are about.

The rain is going to fall again , the good times will return. But living in Australia means at times it’s going to burn.

So if you need a helping hand, just give a mate a call. We’re all hear to help you out and catch you when you fall.

The RFS, the SES, the firey’s, and police, all put their lives upon the line to help to keep the peace.

So hats off to these hero’s and thanks for all you do

And I hope when this is over we can make it up to you!” - Troy Gerdes.

[sircaterpillar1267]

(the pictures are from a website that hasn’t been updated recently about the fires. there are more and they have spread wider)

I don’t like to share much about myself on the internet but this needs to be said.

Hi, I am a fourteen-year-old girl with asthma issues and anxiety from Australia, more specifically, Canberra (the capital city of Australia, the political capital, and the bush capital.)

In just 2018 my home was voted as the worlds most liveable city, and very recently we have become the city with the worst air quality in the world. we didn’t get there from overpopulation, heavy traffic, or not enough trees (we are quite the opposite actually) we got there from the fact that we are literally surrounded by fire.

(like I said above, the map hasn’t been updated recently)

We aren’t supposed to leave the house without a gas mask. So many people have been evacuated from the fires, while many have been lost to them. We have lost so many homes, pets, and wildlife to the fires too.

There is a reason we are called the bush capital. the whole city is covered with trees, and since it’s summer here they are all incredibly dry and easy to burn.

And if my city does catch flames and we need to evacuate there are only two roads open leading out of here, so they will be packed with cars so we might not even get out of here!

It is very common knowledge that Australia is hot in the summer and that we have a lot of droughts and bushfires but not like this.

usually in the summer the fires and droughts are small and manageable, so everyone can just keep going with their lives under the summery blue sky.

we can’t do that this time. the whole sky where I live is grey and gloomy. it looks foggy and cold almost but it’s not. it’s boiling hot and you can’t breathe.

Just a few days ago I went down to my girlfriend’s grandparents farm for new years with their family and them. when we first left the fires around there were fine and it was completely safe. the car ride there was three hours and it was still safe when we got there. about an hour of just lounging around later we had dinner but quickly stopped because we had to pack up and leave or we would have been trapped there by the fires. the fire had quickly spread there and was creeping towards the main road out of there which is over a mountain (The Brown). It was supposed to be a three-day trip, but it was only nine hours.

Hey, here’s a couple more facts about my home and the fires right now.

OUR FUCKING PRIME MINISTER WAS ALL HAPPY ON VACATION WITH HIS FAMILY IN HAWAII!! The country is in crisis, what the fuck was he doing?! He was gone for ages and only came back on the twenty-first of December!!

Another fact that makes the last one look even worse: The fires started in August (our winter) and it’s now January. This is month six of my country burning away. IT HAS BEEN BURNING FOR ALMOST HALF A YEAR PEOPLE!! Our leader knew the country was in a crisis when he left! I saw him in person not long before he went on holiday! Before he left it was just as bad around Canberra too. Us school kids weren’t allowed outside during break times or during PE.

There is so much more I could say, but this is already really long.

So, I think you can get that I am fucking terrified, and extremely pissed off right now.

I’m scared guys. so fucking scared right now. I want my home to be safe. I want my family to be safe. I want my friends to be safe. I want my country to be safe.

[whispelanix]

Welcome to Australia...

Where an already endangered species is on the brink of functional extinction...

Oh, and 500 million animals unique to this country have already lost their lives, upon homes that have been destoryed and lives lost of people as well...

I mean... we're only living in a literal inferno...

415 fires. Fuck are we dying...

Oh yeah and people are just fleeing to the damn ocean, you know?

Do you want to know what Hell on Earth looks like..?

Because there it is in all it's unfiltered, firey rage...

There it is... my home from space...

This is only the beginning. Our country has not only entered a new decade, it seems a new dawning era as well, because this flaming apocalypse doesn't show any sign of stopping any time soon.

And you know what saddens me? I've never seen Australian tragedies trending here on this website. I mean it's been going on for months and only now does it seem to really be getting recognized, even if it is only at #9.

And I'm going to be honest with you here - the internet, and media in general is so American centric, this website being no exception. You'd think that an entire continent being on fire for several months with devastating consequences would have more recognition, but no, it really doesn't. The most notes I've ever seen on a post about the Australian fires is at least a few thousand, and that's about it.

So just... please. If you can, with this post or any other post in regards to the fires going on down here, reblog. Because the only thing that should be spreading like wildfire, is a post about a burning country...

[thatrandombystander]

Look I love me a sale and I understand businesses wanting to cash in on the hype we’ve imported from the US, but every time I see an Australian retailer use the term “Black Friday” it really annoys me. Can we call it something else her? Give it a name that we aren’t already using as a bushfire tragedy name?

[alt-ernativewonderland]

"Incredible photos that show the pure ferocity of the Green Wattle Creek Fire at Orangeville this evening, as firefighters are overwhelmed."

Hi quick reminder that Australia is still very much on fire

📷: Nick Moir, Sydney Morning Herald

[moremusic]

I heard this weeks guest on a Podcast. His music tells stories of what it is like living in this great country. Here is my interview with the great Matt Scullion.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Matt Scullion and I’m a well traveled Australiana-Folk singer/songwriter. As an artist I have two albums and a Golden Guitar award to my name.

As a co-writer I’ve written with everybody from Lee Kernaghan to Cold Chisel and have had 25 number one songs to date.

I grew up on the South Coast of NSW in a little town called Ulladulla and have pretty much been infatuated with music since I can remember.

What/who inspired you to get into music?

My Mother’s record collection and our next door neighbours who were a very arty/hippie family. My first instrument was the Bass guitar which I bought off the fella next door. He gave me a couple lessons and I caught a bad case of the music bug which I still have.

How, if at all did the pandemic change your approach to your music?

It’s definitely forced me to think outside the box as far as where I book my shows. It also gave me time to learn the Banjo.

Have you got any new releases due to come out?

I have one more single to release called “From The Ashes” a song about resilience after the 2019/20 bushfires. It’s the 5th single off my current album Aussie As Vol II.

I also have a new album in the pipeline. I’ll be heading into the studio this February to record with Shane Nicolson. Shane has produced my last two albums and I totally trust him with my songs.

When you record, how does the process develop? Drums first followed by guitar etc?

We always start with me putting down a guide instrument/vocal track. Shane then builds the music around my groove. We tend to go for a more percussive approach than a full drum kit, so it’s quite a fun process finding things to bang on in the studio to come up with new sounds.

What is your career highlight so far?

Performing at the SCG. I got to sing my song “1868” to a sea of faces. It’s the story of the first Australian sporting side to tour internationally which was an all Indigenous cricket team.

Any upcoming gigs you want to promote?

I’m looking forward to all the shows I have lined up this year, but I’ll give a shout out to The Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, Oct 14-16. It’s a wonderful festival with a top line up.

What do you think of the Australian/Adelaide music scene?

I can’t speak for the whole Australian music scene, but the circuit I tour in is alive and well. The Aussie Country Music scene has always been really well supported by community radio which is a great way to reach the rural areas, which is where I do most of my shows.

What are\were some of your favourite venues to play?

I haven’t really got a favourite, but I definitely have a soft spot for the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Who are some other upcoming bands we should have a look at?

An Aussie Folk singer/songwriter named Michael Waugh and a wonderful traditional Irish group called Lynched.

What venues or tours are still on your bucket list?

I’d love to perform at the Sydney Opera House, it’s a beautiful intimate setting with amazing acoustics. Also the Big Red Bash out in Birdsville QLD, I’ve heard it’s a fantastic festival to perform at.

What are your long and short term goals?

Just to keep making music that matters and writing songs that connect with everyday Australians.

If you could only keep one album, what would it be?

That’s not fair!! Can I have two please? John Williamson (Warragul) and Paul Kelly (Greatest Hits).

Finally, where can people find you? Socials etc?

www.Instagram.com/mattscullionmusic

www.mattscullionmusic.com

[mirrorballbetty]

Australia’s Burning

Saw a few tweets on twitter from international people saying that us aussie people should stop begging for donations. To put this into perspective for you:

- our fires started in september 2019 in spring WAY before our fire season even begun.

- the government has cut the budget for volunteer fire fighters which means that they are mostly unable to purchase good quality uniforms and good quality breathing equipment to even protect themselves when on the front line of these ferocious fires.

- the government + national parks had ALL winter to back burn australia to limit the amount of bushfires but chose not to.

- each day is getting worse and worse. Every thunder storm with lightning that we get that doesn’t have rain causes more fires and is happening more frequently.

- businesses are closing and burning down. People are unable to purchase medication, fuel for their cars when fleeing their own town, food, running out of water + unable to buy baby food.

- around 23 people have died + over 20 people are missing. This is just in NSW + VIC and include 3 fire fighters who had loving families.

- over a thousand homes have been lost (around 1.4 i think?)

- canberra, the capital city of australia, has the WORST air quality in the world right now, in which it has killed one person and they weren’t even near any fires, the smoke got to them. The smoke from these fires have been reaching NZ since NOVEMBER.

- people have spent 3+ hours in traffic when fleeing their towns only to travel 2-7km’s and that’s not very far + some have spent days on the shorelines of australia either on boats or waiting for the navy or other australian defence teams to come pick them up, that’s how bad these fires are.

- towns are being wiped off the maps of australia.

- over HALF A BILLION animals (koalas, kangaroos + cattle mostly) have PERISHED in these fires. Koalas are already endangered and were already on the brink of extinction before these fires even started. Farmers have had to shoot their cattle because their injuries have been so severe and there’s nothing more they could do for them.

- one of australia’s most popular islands is nearly all on fire.

- over 4 MILLION hectares has been burnt and that’s more than the cali + amazon fires COMBINED.

- each day is getting more catastrophic than the last. Some people are given days to flee and if they don’t leave by a certain day they will probably not be allowed to leave at all.

- people are opening their own homes to 20+ completely strangers just so they have somewhere to stay.

We understand why you can’t donate and if you can we are very grateful for your donation. We are also very grateful if you even spread awareness by talking about it, rt’ing things, reblogging things etc, sharing links so others are able to donate. I’m sorry if we sound like we’re BEGGING for donations, we just want to be heard, helped and we want this to be over.

I will reblog with links that are helping our fire fighters + communities.

Thank you 💗

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

me in 2012/2013 reading the first hunger games book because it was popular bc of the movie: ooh seems cool but super political so that’s not cool bc political stuff is boring and stupid and not something that i’ll ever have to understand. plus all katniss does is fucking whinge. she’s so whiny. it’s annoying. guess i won’t read the rest of the books or watch the other movies.

me now, in my mid 20s having finally watched all the hunger games movies, having read the first two HG books in full and still reading mockingjay, all because suzanne collins was like “oh hey here’s a new book about president snow!” and also thinking about how the world is practically in ruins by 2020: yknow what? suzy has a fucking point! of course katniss is whiny, teenage me, she comes from the poorest district in the whole of Panem; where wealth is basically non existent except for those who live in shops. the capitol loves to watch 24 kids die each year while they live in extreme comfort and fancy, whereas every district from 2 down to 12 are all slaves to the capitol: even if they have some better off people in the districts, that work for the army (district 2) or run the electronics factories in district 3 or whatever else in the other districts. besides the motto of Panem’s capitol being “breads and circuses” which are provided by the districts; which katniss and peeta meet in Catching Fire, at the party for their state media orchestrated wedding (Y I K E S™️ am i right?) where octavia (one of katniss’ stylists) invites both katniss and peeta to use some funny concoction to make themselves throw up in the bathroom to fit more of the overly decadent capitol food dishes into their stomachs. talk about “waste not, want not” somewhere else away from katniss; because she’s literally almost starved to death and seen others starve to death countless times in district 12. and surely you could’ve recognised the reference to “bread and circuses” at least, after fucking studying ancient rome for two whole fucking terms in year 11, teenage me????

in addition to the above, the victors of the hunger games are forever terrorised by the government via various means; and especially so if they’ve defied the capitol like katniss & peeta or even haymitch (though that isn’t partly revealed til halfway through catching fire and wholly revealed through haymitch in mockingjay). they torture peeta to insanity, basically and then seemingly “deliver” him back to katniss in district 13 programmed to kill her!!!! they parade the tributes like beauty pageant contestants and animals for slaughter at a cattle show in district 10; right after training them as killing machines for the arena, where they’ll exhibit their newly honed murdering skills before an entire nation each day. like girl!!!! there’s so much to relate to the real world in this text!!! but you’re just going to brush it off because it’s “too political” and because “katniss is a whiny bitch!!!”??? like of course she’s whiny! she’s 16/17!!! just like you!!! but you’re just an asshole. learn to empathise with other fictional characters that A R E N T harry potter and the cast of characters in that series, for fucks sake. or alternatively, learn to empathise with characters that A R E N T ellie linton and her friends in the tomorrow series doing their guerilla fighting during a war in australia. because by Mockingjay, katniss is as much a guerilla fighter as ellie is a rebel fighter against the enemy country that invades australia in the tomorrow series. like yes, the tomorrow series isn’t set in a futuristic american post-apocalyptic hellscape like Panem. but that doesn’t mean that the state war that’s fully raging in mockingjay and breaking out in catching fire, due to the quarter quell and the former tributes being recruited again to go through the Murder Olympics™️/Hunger Games again as a form of state sanctioned terrorisation on their psyches, and those victors becoming enemies of Panem due to them voicing their feelings of injustice about being forced to compete in the arena again during their interviews...... is not the same as ellie in normal but war-torn 1990s australia; where ellie and her crew of friends basically become state enemies because of their large scale guerilla activities like blowing up enemy ships and airfields. just like how katniss and gale blow up bombing airships from the capitol in district 8 with their bomb loaded arrows or blow up the military base with rebel army fighters in district 2 in mockingjay. but yeah. just learn to empathise and connect with/relate to characters outside of your incredibly limited reading palate.

moreover, 7-8 years into the future in 2020, the world is in political turmoil, believe it or not. maybe you’ll relate to katniss as you grow more tired of the aussie government forever penalising the younger generations by taking away penalty rates on weekend and public holiday shifts in an already terrifyingly precarious job market that’s become highly casualised/part-time based, which is pricing them out of the property market also, due to lower wages/earnings bc part-time/casual roles don’t pay very well. then on top of that, having a generation defining pandemic. then thirdly, also having the worst set of bushfires in 2019 and earlier this year, that saw like 55million native animals die and millions upon millions of hectares of bushland be burnt to the ground. finally, they’ve made your dream arts degree basically unobtainable due to raising the fees by 113% to $43,500 instead of the $23,000 that it was when i graduated from that degree in 2018. also if you fail they want you to pay your fees upfront instead of relying on hecs to cover it all. all because it’s apparently for “saving the aussie economy.” are you pissed now, teenage me?

across the seas in america, however, donald trump is leading the country as president and he’s turning the country you bizarrely loved more than your home country (due to all the american docos and teen shows you watched/were watching) into a fascist shitshow which is killing millions of people. like i won’t be surprised if donald trump (or even scott morrison/scommo/scummo) if he/they get/s another term in office, and tries to introduce a hunger games style olympic games or something all so the poorest classes learn their place after rioting for most of this year over BASIC FUCKING HUMAN RIGHTS FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER (even here in australia too); because the police are turning into the brutal peacekeepers of Panem, but on a worldwide scale.

like if they introduced some type of HG style murder olympics, they’d do it just to prove that they may have actually read something other than their own stupid self-aggrandising and country/state-destroying twitter rants before they post them.

[ffeeelinggs]

Australian Bushfires

hey guys! Since about August/September 2019, Australia has been experiencing a horror bushfire season. To date more than 5 million hectares have burnt or are burning.

18 people have died, and over 20 are missing, People are being evacuated from towns, food and water supply is running low, power is cut off to many towns, over 1,200 homes have been destroyed and over 500 million wildlife animals have died. The smoke from the fires in sydney has also caused the quality of air to be measured at 11x over the hazardous level. my country needs help, we need financial aid, for our firefighters, for our towns. even $1 will help, no amount is too small, if you’re not in a position to donate any money, that’s so okay, i just ask that you could please like and/or reblog this and raise awareness 💗💗💗💗💗

How will financial donation help?

There are many areas that need financial assistance right now including (but CERTAINLY not limited to): Local fire brigades, relief centres, animal rescue.

The Victorian Government (my state) has literally declared a state of disaster in certain areas (3) - we need disaster relief.

Where can I donate?

DISASTER APPEAL/RELIEF:

• Bushfire Disaster Appeal -https://www.communityenterprisefoundation.com.au/make-a-donation/bushfire-disaster-appeal/ (supported by Bendigo Bank, endorsed by Vic Gov (4))

• Aussie Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery - https://australian-red-cross.giveeasy.org/australian-red-cross-disaster-relief-and-recovery

FIRE SERVICES:

• CFA (Victoria) - https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about/supporting-cfa (choose to donate to the brigade or to the Public Fund)

• NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW) - https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brigade

ANIMAL RESCUE: there are so many amazing small organisations. Research and support your locals

• Koala Hospital: https://www.koalahospital.org.au/shop/donation

• WIRES Wildlife Rescue: https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund (I honestly don't know much about them, someone please advise if I should take them off this list)