Say Yes To Being You

It's been a couple of months since artist Meghan Trainor released the song "All About That Bass". Pretty much, she's singing about how she's happy how she is and doesn't want to be a stick figure, and shouldn't have to be a stick figure to be happy.

It got me thinking that we really need more artists like this in our world.

A world where magazines literally have to have "No photoshop" stamps on their pages so that we know that the girls that we're seeing actually look like that in real life.

A world where size 0 (probably about an Australian 4) is fast becoming "too fat" and size 4 and up is just obscene.

Well you know what? That world is ridiculous and society needs to take a step back.

We all know that the media is a huge part of the problem, and, as an aspiring journalist, I am hoping that I will never contribute to body bashing.

Women all over the world, myself included at times, have looked in the mirror countless times and measured our waists, wondering what it would take to get thinner and achieve the seemingly untaintable 'perfection' thrust at us every day by the internet, TV and magazines.

But you know what girls? It is unatainable. We literally all have different genes, and for some of us, it won't be possible to be a 6 foot model with a 21 inch waist and thigh gap. If you are, then awesome! If you're not, awesome! Everyone is different and that's perfectly okay. Meghan Trainor sings in the song "No I won't be no stick figure silicon Barbie doll, so if that's what you're into then go ahead and move along".

I'm glad that someone's got the right idea. I mean, we've had a couple of amazing female role models (think more along the lines of Beyonce than the Kardashians), but guys are also taught to expect an unrealistic version of girls through their magazines, TV and internet.

Who cares though?

Life should be about more than just looks. We've heard it a million times before - "you need to get a guy to fall in love with your personality and your looks".

I've definitely been guilty of the staring into the mirror and googling fad diets to find out if they actually work. However, recently I've realised that I don't need to and I really need to stop. I should be happy with how I am, and as long as I stay healthy and look good enough to impress myself, that's all there is to it.

It's songs like "All About That Bass" that we need more of.

Instead of hashtags like #thinspo, let's use hashtags like #fitspo. Instead of thinking that we should eat less, think that we should eat more of foods which will make us feel good about ourselves, and I don't mean chocolate. Think foods like fruits, veggies and superfoods.

One of the lyrics is "every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top" and I think that more girls need to realise this. We only live once, and we may as well not spend our lives trying to live in an unachievable photoshopped world.

Let's just live in the real world, where everyone is different and perfect in their own way.

Dear Justin Bieber

Dear Justin Bieber,

First off, let me say, I am not a Belieber. No, I don't HATE your music. It's more that fact that I don't believe I fit the key demographic which makes up this fanbase. What demographic is that? It is one made up of teenage girls who have literally shed every single one of their brain cells in order to take to Twitter this week as keyboard warriors and tweet enough times for the hashtag #WeWillAlwaysSupportYouJustin to become a trending topic...worldwide.

Up until about a year ago, I literally had no problem with you. Much like the rest of the world, we found your fanbase quite annoying, but we respected you due to the fact that you had grown from nothing to become one of the biggest names in the music industry worldwide.

But Justin, it's gone too far. In your movie, you portrayed yourself as some sweet, innocent teenager who was all about the fans. Where did this boy go? You trash hotel rooms, spray paint graffiti and spit on fans. Despite being only 19, you regularly consume alcohol and drugs in the USA. Last week was the turning point. Up until now, the world was still tolerating you. But enough is enough.

You drag raced in a HIRED car whilst under the influence of alcohol (yes, I know it wasn't over the legal limit for minors...but you are a MINOR...it's illegal!) and drugs, like marijuana and Xanax. You could have hurt someone! Why didn't you think more about this when you were first pulled over, and again when you smiled for mug shots. Seriously, who smiles for a mug shot? You're in trouble, and you'd be best to realise that before you seriously hurt someone.

As for the allegations that you're suffering from depression and that's the reason why you were taking some of the drugs: If you are suffering from depression, I am truly sorry that you have to go through that. However, it does not make driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol excusable. If I, or anyone else who was not a big name celebrity were to do this, we would face extreme fines and harsh penalties which would probably include jail time. We also mustn't forget the fact that you were driving on an expired licence.

Either way, the penalties weren't harsh enough. Think about what would have happened if you'd killed or seriously injured someone. Maybe then you would have actually taken the police and mug shots seriously.

But from the rest of the world who aren't Beliebers...Justin, please stop. It's time to grow up. You need to face the consequences or there will be worse ones to come, because the justice system won't go so easy on you a second time. Please. It's time.

The Best Marketing is No Marketing- Beyoncé’s New Album!

The other day, the internet went wild. It wasn’t because Miley Cyrus performed another dance where she couldn’t put her tongue back into her mouth, and it wasn’t because Robin Thicke wrote a sexist song. It went crazy for a different reason.

Pop music royalty, Beyoncé did something that no one expected. Armed and dangerous with an abundance of loyal followers, Twitter suddenly became the platform on which Bey would announce that she had secretly released an album on iTunes without anyone knowing anything about it.

Now that’s what I call a successful album release! The self-titled album Beyoncé by Beyoncé suddenly just appeared on iTunes, with brand 14 new songs and a large number of videos. It wasn’t even given a release date, that’s how secret it was! But it wasn’t leaked early, and basically all of the advertising for her new album has been done via word of mouth in the Twitterverse.

And it all started with one tweet from Columbia Records:

This started the spark, sending Twitter users into overdrive and opening up iTunes to see what new and amazing songs Bey had given us. And you won’t be disappointed! This album is full of amazing lyrics and really relaxing yet catchy music. It’s typical, commanding and awesome Beyoncé, but in my opinion it’s more of a personal album. The fourteen new songs are already a hit with fans, and have already regained the number one throne on iTunes.

I think this post on Tumblr says it all:

'Royals' by Lorde is not racist

Um what?

For those of you who are a little bit behind (like me), you may not yet have heard about a blog post which is causing a stir around the world. Entitled 'Wow, that Lorde song Royals is racist' and published by Veronica Bayetti Flores on her blog 'Feministing', it's not hard to understand the main concept of this post.

For those of you who haven't heard the lyrics to Royals, it's basically about consumerism. Over-exaggerated, overblown consumerism.

However Ms Flores does not take it that way. No, she believes that it's extremely racist.

I Hate Ticket Scalpers

Thank you Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Thank you for proving, once again, that you do care. You care about recycling old clothes, you care about gay marriage...and now, you're taking a stand on ticket scalping.

Because this annoys me.

How is it fair for companies to go onto the websites and nabs scores of tickets, with the sole purpose of selling them at an exorbitantly higher face value than what they were originally worth? The short answer: It's not.

Ticket Scalping is ILLEGAL. In Australia, the states and territories have laws to prevent illegal acquisition and resale of tickets for the sole purposes of making money. This is definitely fair.

If you've sat on the Ticketek website hitting refresh for the twenty minutes leading up to a ticket release, you know how it feels. You know how much is at stake; how much depends upon how fast you can click buttons and enter your credit card details. However there are those that don't pay by the rules. Instead of buying tickets for their own enjoyment, they buy them to make a profit.

In Australia, these tickets often end up on sites like ViaGoGo or EBay or Gumtree. For example, Imagine Dragons are playing in a few states in October. Sold out Australia wide, tickets are available for up to $160 per ticket. And do you know how much they were originally? $66 (correct price from OzTix for the Brisbane Show).

$66. That's basically $100 profit.

So for all of those kids who are relying on their parents' credit cards, or waiting patiently for their parents to get home from work so that they can buy tickets, they often can't because of ticket scalpers and their greed for profit.

In 2011, One Direction played a limited number of shows in Australia. From my memory, because they were just gathering momentum, tickets were about $60. One was being sold on EBay for $4000.

Four. Thousand. Dollars. For one ticket. It's crazy.

So whatever you do, don't let the ticket scalpers win. Just wait for the band to come back to Australia, try to win tickets or buy them from a reputable source.

And to all those ticket scalpers:

Find a real profession. You'll only get caught.

Get Psyched for Stereosonic!

Get excited for Stereosonic. It’s that time of year. The time of the year when the lineup for one of Australia’s biggest and best music festivals is released. Followers were constantly hitting refresh until the long-awaited list was finally released.

And boy, is it good!

So you know how usually, Australian music festivals are lucky if they can get one headlining act who is known on an international scale? Well not this time!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, let us give you a quick rundown of some of the main names. Stereosonic will hit the Brisbane on December 7th and 8th at the RNA Showgrounds. In my opinion, the 7^th has a slightly better lineup, with David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Empire of the Sun, Tommy Trash, Labrinth and Nicky Romero being some of the biggest names ever to grace Australian shores. And then, the lineup maintains the same frantic and electrifying atmosphere for the second day, when we have Armin Van Buuren, Afrojack, Stafford Brothers and Alesso, just to name a few.

This festival is guaranteed good times and a party atmosphere for the entire weekend, and you’d be crazy to pass up on tickets for this. They come on sale from Ticketmaster at 9am on August 1^st, so get saving and we will see you at Stereosonic! It’ll be awesome and incredible and you can’t not go!

(I need to work out a way to do Taylor Swift and Stereosonic on the same weekend…any ideas!?)

For more information, click here: http://stereosonic.com.au/

Save Me San Cisco!

You know when you listen to music simply for the reason that it makes you happy? Well, San Cisco is definitely perfect for that! Up-and-coming, alternative-pop band San Cisco has recently begun their ‘Beach’ tour of Australia to showcase their new album. Beginning on the Sunshine Coast, the group will work their way around Australia in what is sure to be a fun and energetic tour for all those involved!