Tipping for Dummies: Round 14

Posted in Sports by

After weeks of being too busy or too sick to even contemplate doing the TFD for the week… Tipping for Dummies is baaaaack.

In the horrid half-weekend pre-Origin round of NRL.

Everybody's favourite Tipping for Dummies!

Everybody’s favourite Tipping for Dummies!

Friday June 13, 2014
South Sydney Rabbitohs vs. Wests Tigers @ ANZ Stadium
Kicking off the pre-Origin round is the Bunnies against the Tigers in their I-guess-it’s-equally-shared-homeground stadium. As always before Origin, all teams will be missing their big guns. The backs for the Bunnies take a dramatic shift with Nathan Merritt moving to fullback (among several moves) while Joel Luani and Martin Taupau replace Robbie Farah and Aaron Woods for the Tigers respectively.
SolSat’s prediction: South Sydney Rabbitohs
I’m going to take a big leap here and say that the Rabbitohs will heavily under-perform after their recent string of unimpressive performances. The Tigers, however, will be missing their fire with Farah and Woods missing and I see the Bunnies taking the win in a close round opener.

Saturday June 14, 2014
Penrith Panthers vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons @ Sportingbet Stadium
The Panthers are coming off a four-win streak and will look to make it five as they host the Saints on Saturday, whose recent bad luck has only been deterred by their thrashing over the Sharkies. Young starter Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will start for the Panthers while Mitch Rein returns from suspension for the Dragons.
SolSat’s prediction: Penrith Panthers
I would say that at this halfway mark of the season that the Panthers would be solid favourites to take the premiership for this year. The Dragons, who started off well, have been less than ever since their losing streak begun, so a clear and decisive victory over the Dragons is predicted in this one.

Sydney Roosters vs. Newcastle Knights @ Allianz Stadium
The reigning premiers host the Newcastle Knights to round off the Saturday footy. The Chookies haven’t been that stellar this year to say the least; however, the Knights have had an all-around shitter (even with my sweet Mullen on the team). Mitch Aubusson, Nene McDonald and Dylan Napa start for the Chookies while SolSat favourite Josh Mantellato starts on the wing for the Knights.
SolSat’s prediction: Sydney Roosters
I don’t think I really have to say why I predict a Chookies win, although I do hope that the Knights can prove me wrong. Please.

Sunday June 15, 2014
Canterbury Bulldogs vs. Parramatta Eels @ ANZ Stadium
The final NRL game to warm up ANZ Stadium for Origin II kicks off on Sunday with the Doggies taking on the Eels. The last time these two teams clashed, the Doggies thrashed the Eels (a game I attended). Now with a new Parramatta look, the results may be different. Damien Cook and former Eel Reni Maitua shift to the halves for the Doggies while Isaac de Gois goes straight into the hooker role for the Eels.
SolSat’s prediction: Parramatta Eels
The Doggies seemed to have hit a roadblock in their winning form and I think the Eels will capitalise on that. Couple that with the fact that I want the Eels to win, and we have a winner!

Monday June 16, 2014
Gold Coast Titans vs. Melbourne Storm @ Cbus Super Stadium
Closing this sad, half round of footy is the Titans clashing with the Storm in the only Queensland-based game of the week. Both of these teams have special places in my heart (after the Broncos, obvs) so I’m hoping for a good round closer here. Paul Carter and Luke Bailey start for Greg Bird and Nate Myles while Cameron Munster fills the big shoes that Billy Slater left behind as Storm fullback.
SolSat’s prediction: Gold Coast Titans
The Storm have never really done that great when missing their Origin stars so I’m predicting a comfortable Titans win on Monday. I do hope that Munster does the role of Storm fullback well though. #ilyslater

While I’m here… GET WELL COREY PARKER. It’s bad enough that I won’t be seeing my favourite player at the Maroons Fan Day at Sydney but my skipper will be missing Origin and MAYBE the Bronx game next week. Sadface.

– by The Black Widow

You Know What Sh!ts Me?: Seek and you MAY find

Posted in Opinion, What Sh!ts Me by

We’ve all been there or know someone who has… the job hunt!

It’s 8:30pm on a Friday night and while your friends are all getting ready, painting on their faces and slipping on some heels, you’re at home hitting up seek.com.au.

You’re sitting there smacking your keyboard and mouse in frustration, scrolling through the thousands of jobs they have listed there and hoping something stands out… and then from nowhere you come across your perfect job. Smiling and clicking the link to read more about the position on offer, you can’t help but think “Oh yeah, looks like I’m going out partying after all”.

If this shot is your regular friend, you will understand the pain. (SOURCE: Screenshot from Seek website)

If this shot is your regular friend, you will understand the pain. (SOURCE: Screenshot from Seek website)

You start reading through the job, matching your skill sets to the desired attributes of the employer and of course your skills match. You’re capable of doing everything on their list, you have your own license and you’re well groomed. You’ve got this one in the bag! You attach your resume to the advertisement and email off your CV, closing the browser contented by the fact you’ll be starting a new job in a couple of days. There’s no way in the world that you haven’t got this.

The weekend passes, Monday comes and goes, Tuesday flies by and before you know it you’re staring Wednesday in the face wondering where in the world your phone call for an interview is. Surely it doesn’t take that long to read someone’s resume and find them perfect for the job. You sit down at the computer, open up your email and surprisingly you have an email reply regarding your application. You click on the email, your heart racing a million miles an hour and you read the top line (the only line);

Thank you for your application. Unfortunately you do not have the experience required for this position.

Like hell you don’t! Pulling out your resume once again, you run your index finger down your resume, silently cross checking your listed skills with the requirements for this position… got them all. As you sit there puzzled, scratching your head you think “Oh… I’m applying for an Executive Assistant job, but I’ve only ever worked Reception. My bad.” Oddly enough however, the tasks you completed on a Reception desk are pretty much identical to the ones you’d complete as an EA, but how could you be so silly. No one is going to hire you if you’ve never once held the title they’re advertising for. You’re completely capable and you know you’d be great at the job, but unfortunately you cannot show the employer experience within the position. Sorry about that champ!

Following this is the frustration. How the hell can you ever climb a career ladder if no one is willing to give you a chance? Everyone’s all about the “Experience essential” component of a job application, but who out there is ever going to give you a crack at that position? You can’t exactly gain experience in something if no one is ever willing to give you the experience.

Who are employers these days actually kidding? The employment rate in Australia is at it’s highest in a decade, but hey, let’s be picky about who we’re going to hire. What ever happened to taking a chance on someone? Putting them through a gauntlet of difficult work place tasks to see if they’ve got the backbone to work the position on offer. Take my grandfather for example; runs his own business, needs bodies on a regular and rather than turning people away who don’t fit his criteria, he’ll have them mop the floors, clean the toilets and make coffees. Sure you might feel inadequate for a day or two, but when he’s done with you, you’ll have full time employment.

If people are willing to push themselves to the limit in order to prove that they can do something, then why not let them? Worst case scenario is that they don’t work out and you need to advertise again, but best case, you’ve earnt yourself an employee who is willing to go to hell and back for you.

Australia, give our unemployed a good hard go. Take a chance on someone. You never know what might happen.

– by Melissa Tonitto

You Know What Sh!ts Me?: Not Everything is “Glamorising”

Posted in Opinion, What Sh!ts Me by

This will all make sense by the end of this article.

It seems that nowadays one can’t do anything in the spotlight without someone having something negative to say about it. Kim Kardashian, for example – as much as I personally dislike her – cannot blink without someone attacking her on social media, calling her a range of insults from “fat” to “blimp-like hussy”. The unfortunate truth for a celebrity is that while they are relevant, they will always be attacked no matter what.

More recently, however, it seems that there are more and more complaints coming from individuals that seem to have absolutely no social or work life at all. These are the ones that criticise any movie, TV show, book or any other creative work for “glamorising” a bad issue.

Glamorising DVD covers since 2003. (SOURCE: Anna's Flickr photostream)

Glamorising DVD covers since 2003. (SOURCE: Anna’s Flickr photostream)

One of my recent favourite TV shows (that was criminally cut short) is Secret Diary of a Call Girl, featuring Billie Piper *COUGH* Rose Tyler *COUGH* as the main character, Hannah Baxter/Belle du Jour as an escort. It features her daily and nightly shenanigans as Hannah by day and Belle by night. Regardless, it is one hell of an entertaining show and one which I successfully referred to a friend who also loved the series.

What did the critics have to say about this? “Glamorising being a prostitute”.

Um. No.

Actually it is just showing the life of an escort in a witty and entertaining way… based on the real life of a real escort who kept her identity hidden from the world for so long probably for this very reason. A feminist who wrote for the Daily Mail stated that she couldn’t imagine that any escort would enter the profession out of free choice. Well, actually, I can; people were born and raised differently and are therefore very different from one another. While one enjoys having sex and getting paid for it, the other is equally content saving herself until marriage. And there is nothing wrong with either of them. Hello, if you wanted an example of “people being very different from one another”, just watch the show and you will see that some people even enjoy roleplaying as babies while someone else takes care of them as their parent/guardian.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl isn’t the only show to face this pointless, unnecessary fire from bored critics.

Breaking Bad? Glamorising meth.

Dexter? Glamorising serial killing.

Prisonbreak? Glamorising committing a crime and then breaking out of jail.

Fifty Shades of Grey? Glamorising rough S&M.

Stan by Eminem? Glamorising being a psycho-stalker fan and committing suicide.

A friend of mine, who was a big follower of the Breaking Bad TV series, clearly stated that if you properly watched the show, it would turn you off from doing meth. Oh really? And if not made apparent by the highly anti-climatic ending of Dexter, the show did not glamorise serial killing one bit. Just look at how royally fucked his life was because of his choice in alternative hobby.

To those people who think that every creative work has some ulterior motive to ruin today’s generation: buy some Kleenex or build a bridge.

Hell, you might as well say that Doctor Who is glamorising picking up your whole life and leaving with a mad man and his blue box, or that Pokemon is glamorising leaving your family at a young age to explore the world with creatures that speak their name.

This whole pointless glamorising has gotten on my last nerve.

My advice? Watch that TV series and enjoy it. Sit through that movie and enjoy it. Read that book and enjoy it. Listen to that album and enjoy it. But leave it at that. The artists in the world who put their blood, sweat and tears in these works are wasting their time if people are just going to complain and create problems that aren’t even there.

There. I said it.

– by The Black Widow

To Bieb or not to Bieb, that is the question

Posted in Entertainment, Music, Opinion by

We’ve all heard about it over the last few days and rolled our eyes.

Justin Bieber has once again proved to the world why he currently holds the title for World’s Biggest Douchebag – and that’s coming from a self professed Belieber.

Despite the big love I hold for the little cutie, I have to say that he’s not doing much to uphold his reputation at the moment (unless of course you know him for the bad he’s done and not his talent, in which case he’s upholding that reputation to perfection), what with his ‘retiring’ from music so he can drink, drive, drink AND drive, and get high as a kite on Mother Nature’s prohibited greenery. The last thing this kid needed was another headline.

Even with all his sick tatts, is he even that cool? (SOURCE: Justin Bieber's Shots page)

Even with all his sick tatts, is he even that cool? (SOURCE: Justin Bieber’s Shots page)

From the very first time I heard Bieber sing I have vouched for his talent, but I will not tolerate his light hearted attitude towards the law, and neither will the world. As if it wasn’t enough that he spent his time in Australia tagging hotels and went home to add driving under the influence to his résumé, Bieber has now found himself in the spotlight for a racial slur – by which I mean a ridiculous joke told by a child to a girl to impress her.

Whilst I do not condone his behaviour of late, or his appreciation of racial based jokes, I have to admit that the whole situation has been blown a little out of proportion. To top it off, further footage was then leaked showing Bieber warming up his vocals to a song he sings, bleeping out the lyrics and replacing them with derogatory references to a particular community. Granted that Bieber was just a sweet little girl in these two videos, you would think he would know better, but I pose the question; should he really have known better? Do grown adults today not still promote the very behaviour that Bieber has exhibited in these two videos?

There is no doubt that he could have better taste in jokes, but quite frankly the situation is ridiculous. Do we not have more pressing issues to bring to the worlds attention? Surely the world hasn’t become so pathetic that we find the need to fill our news hour with the plights of fallen Hollywood stars whose stints on the red carpet are now nothing but a distant memory.

Look around Bieber, do your research. If he was as racist a person as these videos make him out to be, do you not think the likes of Usher and Kenny Hamilton (Bieber’s head of security) would have brought him back down to earth? Reality check people, there’s more to life than what you see on your television.

What you ask is the moral to this story? Haters gonna hate.

– by Melissa Tonitto