Hey everyone, welcome back to another Flashback Friday. And yes, it’s on a Saturday again, I know, I may have forgotten to write this yesterday, and I may have only remembered late last night, but here we are, and as per last week, its probably Friday somewhere. Let’s get right into it.

First up this week, and Alex Turnbull, son of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, has spoken out this week once again in a recorded video message to the people of Wentworth. He has urged voters not to vote for the Liberal Party and their candidate Dave Sharma, and instead has endorsed Labor Party candidate Tim Murray. It comes as former Opposition Leader and Liberal Party Leader John Hewson has spoken out, also urging the people of Wentworth to vote against the Liberal Party, citing their inaction on climate change. Malcolm Turnbull himself has also spoken out this week claiming the $443 million grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation was the work of Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann, and that they were responsible. Obviously Turnbull is just trying to snipe his former colleagues as much as possible, and bring them down entirely. Parts of the Ruddock report have also been leaked this week, which is interesting considering the Wentworth by election is only a week away. The by election will take place next Saturday, the 20th of October.

Following on from that, this week, and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has met this week and released a report, which has warned that we must stop using coal and cut down on consumption of meat so that we do not accelerate climate change. They have warned that at the current rate, climate change and global warming have become an international emergency and that we could hit the 1.5 degree mark by 2030. Now quite obviously, the Left have become obsessed by this news and have expressed their concerns, whilst Prime Minister Scott Morrison has practically dismissed them. The climate change issue is just another political ruse being weaponised by the Left, and I would encourage everyone not to be concerned about this because it is in no way shape or form an issue. It doesn’t exist. Don’t be fooled by the Left.

In sports news, and Usain Bolt has made his first start for the Central Coast Mariners, and what a match he played. Bolt had a relatively decent start and first half, but he made his presence known in the second half, scoring two goals to make his mark on football. The second goal was only a tap in, however the first was absolutely brilliant, a top class goal from a relatively new player. Bolt was praised by coach Mike Mulvey, and his goals rang out around the world. Bolt continues to trial for the Mariners, with Mulvey having previously stated that he will likely know if Bolt is worthy of a contract by January next year. A good first start for Usain Bolt, and he celebrated in style with his trademark celebration.

And finally to entertainment news, and this week saw the season finale of Australian Survivor: Champions v Contenders, and what a finale it was. The final three, Sharn Combes, Shane Gould and Brian Lake. After a gruelling final immunity challenge which saw Shane knocked out first, followed by Brian later on after a costly mistake, Sharn was left as the winner of the immunity challenge, therefore being given the decision as to who she wished to take with her to the final two. And after an interesting tribal council, Sharn eliminated Brian from the competition, taking Shane through with her to the final two. A finaltribal council was held, and after questioning from the Jury, which saw Sharn exposed by Brian for not revealing to Mat that his name had come up, a final vote occurred, which ultimately saw Shane Gould crowned Sole Survivor in a vote of 5-4. Shane has now become the oldest winner of Survivor anywhere in the world, and fully deserved it. Well done. And in other entertainment news, the season premiere of the 11th season of Doctor Who was shown this week, being quite well received by many fans of the show. The only thing that people were somewhat critical about was the accents, which were Yorkshire accents and were somewhat difficult to understand. However, Jodie Whittaker has made her mark as The Doctor, and hopefully it will be a great season.

And that’s it for another Flashback Friday. Join me next week for more articles, stories and the like. Until then, have a good one!

JJ

Hey everyone, welcome back to Flashback Friday. You’ll notice however that’s it’s actually Saturday. That’s because it may have slipped my mind that I hadn’t put out a Flashback Friday yesterday when it was all too late to do so. But it’s probably still Friday somewhere in the world. So let’s get into it.

First up this week, and over in the US, Malcolm Turnbull has been caught on a secret tape, revealed by Nine’s Chief Political Editor Chris Uhlmann, referring to former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd as ‘miserable ghosts’. Within the tape, Turnbull has been caught taking swipes at the former Prime Ministers, however, it is uncertain as to how he is qualified to make these statements, seeing as he himself seems to still be upset about being rolled. Former PM Paul Keating spoke out about Turnbull, labelling him as having ‘failed miserably’ as Prime Minister of Australia. Additionally in political news this week, Liberal MP Craig Kelly has spoken out to the NSW Liberal Party this week saying that fossil fuels are protecting us. His statements have been met with criticism by many on the Left, after practically denying climate change and stating that coal is the future. It’s good to see someone in our government standing up for what is right.

Additionally this week, Andrew Bolt has interviewed Conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on his Sky News program The Bolt Report, ahead of Milo’s return to Australia for another speaking tour, this time accompanied by fellow Conservative Ann Coulter. In the interview, Milo has spoken of a toxin that is spreading to Australia that will try to rid the country of free speech. He has also declared that Australia is the world’s last hope to defend free speech. Since the interview, many Leftists have come out of the woodworks, demanding that he not be allowed back into Australia. It just goes to show that exposing the Left makes them run scared and angry. Milo has also announced that he is writing a book that is to be entitled ‘Australia, You’re My Only Hope’. His tour of Australia with Ann Coulter entitled Ann and Milo Live begins on the 29th of November on the Gold Coast.

To sport now, and this week saw two big footy finals played, one which was extremely close, the other not so. The Grand Final weekend kicked off with the AFL Grand Final between the Collingwood Magpies and the West Coast Eagles. The Black Eyed Peas and Jimmy Barnes opened the Grand Final as the entertainment with great performances, before all the action kicked off. The Magpies had a good 29 point lead at an early stage in the match, however the Eagles closed the gap, and even managed to get ahead. The game became very tight in the final two quarters, with each team continuing to score to level the playing field. In the end however, the Eagles made a break and managed to score the final goal of the match, which saw them crowned Premiers 79-74. A tough result for the Magpies, but well played nonetheless. The following night the NRL Grand Final took centre stage, with the Melbourne Storm taking on the Sydney Roosters. Billy Slater was set to play his final match of professional NRL. Cooper Cronk was confirmed to play at the last minute. And it seemed that Cronk, despite doing little on the field in terms of playing the ball, was the magic man that the Roosters needed, with his on field coaching getting them well ahead of the Storm and dominating the game, with the Roosters ultimately taking the match 21-6. Billy Slater now enters retirement. Well done to the Roosters on the Grand Final win.

And now to entertainment news, and this week saw the season finale of Ten’s reality television show The Bachelor, which saw many viewers shocked with the end result. After a walk out in the top three, the final two jetted off to New Caledonia with Bachelor Nick Cummins, only to find that he would ultimately choose neither of them. For the first time in Bachelor history, the Bachelor chose no-one, ultimately wasting the time of many people. It would be a wonder if anyone decided to apply for the show after this year’s season. And in a bit of other television news, the 11th Season of Doctor Who starts this Monday (8th October) in Australia, with an all new female Doctor and three new companions. It all kicks off at 5:55pm on Monday 8th October on the ABC.

And that’s it for another Flashback Friday. Now after much work on Part 3 of the Exposé Series, I can say that I will likely have it out on Monday, although I can’t guarantee that. But very likely Monday. Also, don’t forget to change your clocks tonight as daylight saving starts here in Australia tomorrow. Have a good one.

JJ

Hey everyone, welcome back to Flashback Friday. Another week of news, another Flashback Friday. Let’s get straight into it.

The big news of the week this week was the ABC in crisis. At the beginning of the week, Managing Director of the ABC Michelle Guthrie was sacked by the Board, with no real reason given for the decision. Chairman Justin Milne, who was gifted the job by friend and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, refused to give any justification as to why Guthrie was ousted by her colleagues on the board, including himself. But she wasn’t going to go quietly, and made it known that she would be exploring her legal options. And it just got a whole lot worse for the ABC, when on Thursday, after being endorsed by the Board only the day before, Chairman Justin Milne made the decision to resign from his position as Chairman of the ABC, after it was reported by Fairfax that he had previously sent an email to Guthrie requesting that she sack ABC Chief Economics Correspondent Emma Alberici, as well as journalist Andrew Probyn and radio host Jon Faine, in order to appease former PM Malcolm Turnbull. This also brought into question the decision of the Board to support and endorse Milne just the day before he resigned, and there have been calls from many, including Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and members of the Labor Party including Anthony Albanese, for the entire ABC Board to resign. There has also been a lot of talk about political interference in the ABC, with the media corporation and those who support it claiming it is completely unbiased, which is completely untrue. You’ll see what I mean by this in the next Part of my Exposé Series, coming very soon. For the meantime, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield and the Senate have both launched two individual inquiries into the events of the past week and all that surround them. Additionally, Dr Kristin Ferguson has been appointed Deputy Chairwoman and by extension Chairwoman of the ABC by PM Scott Morrison.

Meanwhile, in other political news, and today saw the structuring of the ballot paper for the upcoming Wentworth by election. A draw took place in order to position the twenty participants in a random order. Independent Dr Kerryn Phelps found herself second from the bottom, with Liberal candidate Dave Sharma positioned slightly higher at number 12, Labor candidate Tim Murray at number 5, and the top spot being surprisingly taken out by Robert Callanan, the candidate for none other than Bob Katter’s infamous Katter’s Australia Party. This could be valuable for Katter’s candidate, considering he could pick up a decent percentage of the vote from so called ‘donkey’ votes. Phelps will more likely have to work hard to gain votes, after announcing she would be preferencing the Liberal Party last week. The Wentworth by election will take place on October 20.

To sports news now, and this weekend will see the Grand Finals played for both the AFL and NRL. The AFL Grand Final will take place on Saturday between the West Coast Eagles and the Collingwood Magpies. The West Coast Eagles enter the match off the back of a big win in their Semi Final against Melbourne last week, whilst Collingwood go into the game coming off the back of a slightly closer game which they won against Richmond. Meanwhile, the Melbourne Storm will take on the Sydney Roosters after the Storm beat the Sharks and the Roosters edged the Rabbitohs in last week’s preliminary finals. The AFL Grand Final will have some great entertainment too, with the likes of Jimmy Barnes and the Black Eyed Peas (Will.i.am, Taboo, and Apl De Ap) set to perform at the event. Big weekend in sport coming up.

And in entertainment news, this week it has been confirmed by Whoopi Goldberg that a Sister Act reboot is in the works. However, she will not be reprising her starring role as Sister Mary Clarence, saying rather that she could just be making a cameo in the film. The film is not going to be a sequel to the other two as Sister Act 3, rather it will be a brand new rendition of the original Sister Act. And continuing with films, the trailer has been released this week for the new Dark Phoenix film of the X-Men franchise. The film has also undergone a name change, from X-Men: Dark Phoenix to just Dark Phoenix. The film revolves around a young Jean Grey, and the younger versions of the X-Men. The film is set to be released on February 14 next year.

And that’s it for another Flashback Friday. Join me next week for another edition, and I’ll also do my best to get Part 3 of my Exposé Series out within the next week. It’s a long one, but it’s definitely worth the read. Have a good one!

JJ

Ryan Tedder

Ryan Tedder, music’s unsung hero. Some of you may not know who he is. Others would be familiar with him. For those who are uncertain, & who may not have heard his name before, I’ll give you a few pointers. Many know Ryan Tedder as the frontman of American pop rock group OneRepublic. The group famous for songs like Apologize & Counting Stars. But Ryan Tedder is much more than just the frontman of this famous group of musicians. He is a vocalist, a multi-instrumentalist, a composer, a producer. So in this article, I want to introduce you to the man behind the music.

Ryan Tedder has always been surrounded by music. His father was also a musician. He learnt piano at the young age of three, & is a self-taught vocalist, having worked on his voice since the age of seven, & honing this skill at the age of twelve. He grew up in a house with a piano, went to a church with a gospel choir as a child, singing in the church each week, & then began writing his own music soon after. He would take musical ideas from other songs, & transform them to make them his own, creating new music each time. His first break into the music scene came when he began an internship at DreamWorks SKG where he sang on demos, as well as producing them for both labels & songwriters alike. He then competed in a singer-songwriter competition which he won after performing an original in front of millions of viewers on MTV. In 2002, a year after winning the competition, Tedder managed to catch the attention of hip hop producer Timbaland, who he worked with to develop as an artist, whilst also producing for a range of other artists. But it wasn’t until a few years later that his big break would come.

When Tedder was attending Colorado Springs Christian School, he met Zach Filkins on the soccer team. The two became friends, & thus, in 2002, a few years after their initial meeting, Ryan Tedder, Zach Filkins, Eddie Fisher, Drew Brown, & Brent Kutzle came together to form the band now known as OneRepublic. The band began as unsigned, however began to gain followers & traction on social media through MySpace, & have since accumulated over fifty million plays of their music on the social network. They have also held a position in the Top Artists of Myspace Music since 2006.

The first hit for OneRepublic came in 2007, when Apologize, written by Ryan Tedder, was recorded by the band & released after they had signed to Timbaland’s label, Mosley Music Group, via Interscope Records. Apologize was one of their biggest & most successful songs, & became OneRepublic’s first number one hit. Since then, the band have had a multitude of success, with four albums (Dreaming Out Loud, Waking Up, Native, Oh My My), & a number of hit songs. Native was probably the biggest & most successful album of the four, & a subsequent tour which spanned two years was highly praised, & very well received.

Here are some of OneRepublic’s most popular songs: Counting Stars, Love Runs Out, Apologize, I Lived, Stop & Stare, If I Lose Myself, Good Life, Feel Again, Secrets, All The Right Moves, Wherever I Go, Kids, Let’s Hurt Tonight, No Vacancy, Rich Love, Connection.

But what you may not know is that many top hits recorded by other artists have actually been written &/or produced by Ryan Tedder. Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, a number one hit, was co-written & produced by Tedder. Jordin Sparks’ ‘Battlefield’ was also co-written & produced by Tedder. Turning Tables & Rumour Has It by Adele had composition done by Tedder. Demi Lovato’s ‘Neon Lights’ was written & produced by Tedder. He has also worked with & written & produced for artists such as Maroon 5, B.o.B., Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Lopez, the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson, Ludacris, James Blunt, & many more. He recently wrote & produced songs on Paul McCartney’s new album Egypt Station.

Here are some of the songs he has written for other artists: Maps (Maroon 5), Burn (Ellie Goulding), Happier (Ed Sheeran), Already Gone (Kelly Clarkson), XO (Beyonce), Got 2 Luv U (Sean Paul), Most Girls (Hailee Steinfeld), Ghost (Ella Henderson), The Fighter (Gym Class Heroes), Faith (Stevie Wonder), Bonfire Heart (James Blunt), Rocketeer (Far East Movement), I Know Places (Taylor Swift), Why Try (Ariana Grande), Stranger Things (Kygo), & many more.

Probably the most prolific song he has written however, is one which everyone knows. The song that was probably Beyonce’s biggest hit: Halo. Tedder wrote Halo with Beyonce in mind after she reached out to him & asked him to write a song for her. He wrote the hit song in just three hours. He also did a demo of it himself, & has since performed it live during some of OneRepublic’s live performances.

Ryan Tedder has also been a featured artist on many songs by other artists. He was featured on Never Let You Go by B.o.B., Rocketeer by Far East Movement, The Fighter by Gym Class Heroes, & on American rapper Logic’s recent single One Day, amongst may others. OneRepublic were also featured on Kygo’s ‘Stranger Things’, written for Kygo by Tedder. OneRepublic have also had some of their music featured in film & tv. Apologize was featured in an episode of Smallville. They have had a multitude of songs featured on shows such as The Voice, America’s Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, The Good Doctor, NCIS, American Idol & others, & Let’s Hurt Tonight was featured in the trailer & the end credits for the film Collateral Beauty starring Will Smith. Additionally, OneRepublic recorded a single called ‘Start Again’, featuring Logic, for the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.

Ryan Tedder is a music icon. He can sing, play piano, guitar, bass, drums. His vocal range is amazing, with the capability to hit some of the highest notes there are, and pull off some amazing vocals (Checkout this link, skip to 3:26 if you just want to see the brilliant vocals https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hQTHVW60ov4). He is a composer & producer of hit songs, & brings a unique energy to live performances. People who have seen OneRepublic live have acknowledged the energy in the performance, & have highly praised OneRepublic’s live tours. Ryan Tedder has been referred to as the undercover king of pop, & I would very much agree with this. He is an iconic musician, & I personally hope to one day see OneRepublic perform live & meet him myself.

JJ

Hey everyone, welcome back to Flashback Friday. Let’s get right into it.

Starting with the food contamination crisis this week, and it has been a tumultuous week for the food industry and for farmers this week, with a saboteur inserting needles into strawberries in an effort to harm people who purchase them. The saboteur still hasn’t been found, however an investigation is underway, with police looking for any information that might lead them to the culprit. However, the incident was not isolated, with multiple copycat incidents now having taken place in addition to the incidents related to the initial finding, and with multiple types of fruit being contaminated. Six brands of Australian strawberries have now been taken off the shelves, and New Zealand have stopped importing Australian strawberries altogether. Woolworths have also pulled sewing needles and other types of needles from their shelves in an effort to prevent further contamination incidents. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, along with Health Minister Greg Hunt and Attorney General Christian Porter, have also made an amendment to contamination laws, one which was passed through the House of Representatives on Thursday, which strengthens the laws in relation to contamination and increases the penalty from 10 years to 15 years max in prison in an effort to put a stop to the contamination crisis. More to come on this in the coming weeks.

In general Parliamentary news now, and this week saw Scott Morrison’s second sitting week as the new PM in Parliament. And Labor and the Greens did not make it an easy one for him. After a Labor dominated Senate inquiry into the decisions Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton made on a few au pairs reported back that Dutton had in fact misled the Parliament, Greens MP Adam Bandt attempted to have a motion of no confidence moved through the House of Representatives. The motion was defeated by one vote, 68-67, with many saying that Dutton saved himself. Morrison was also criticised by the Labor Party for the funding boost he announced yesterday for the Catholic and independent schools. The main criticism was that there was lack of funding for public schools, however they are practically on par with, if not receiving more funding than the Catholic and independent schools, so this criticism is unnecessary. What was amusing about this week in Parliament however, was the one question repeatedly asked in question time. Bill Shorten found a new way each sitting day of the last two weeks to ask why Malcolm Turnbull wasn’t the Prime Minister. The question has just become a joke. Additionally this week, Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis announced she will not recontest her seat in the next federal election, following in the footsteps of Julia Banks, citing bullying as one of the reasons. And a royal commission into aged care has also been announced this week by the government. The Parliament is now on a three week break.

In a bit more political news now, and Pauline Hanson has once again caused a stir this week with a motion she wishes to present to the Senate, one which will now be presented when Parliament returns after a three week break. The motion was to be put forward yesterday, however time was running short and it could not occur. The motion is that the Senate acknowledge a) The deplorable rise of anti-white racism and attacks on Western civilisation b) It is ok to be white. The motion has caused a stir, becoming controversial almost instantly. Many are saying that Hanson is wrong, and that this is a ridiculous motion, that there is no such thing as racism towards white people. But Hanson is actually right. She is standing up for something that needs recognition, and racism against white people is very much a real thing. Now obviously, the Left are going to be all over this. In fact, they already are. And they will do everything they can to ridicule the motion and Pauline Hanson and attempt to shut her and this down. But this is the Left attempting to blind people once again. And I’ll have more on this in the next Exposé article coming soon. But for now, well done to Pauline Hanson for standing up for something completely valid.

And in entertainment news this week, it was announced that, 22 years after the first film was released, a second Space Jam movie is in the works. The first movie starred NBA star Michael Jordan, with the sequel set to star NBA star Lebron James. The film will once again feature the Looney Tunes characters, and is set to be released sometime in 2019, 23 years after the first film’s release. And, keeping with films, the first Captain Marvel trailer was released this week, showing off Brie Larson as the major Marvel superhero. The film, set in the 1990s, is set to be released on March 6 2019, with the trailer already garnering over one hundred million views in its first day. And another exciting film has been released today, that being the highly anticipated Johnny English Strikes Again. The film, starring Rowan Atkinson as British Spy Johnny English, is the third film in the series, being released seven years after Johnny English Reborn, the sequel to the first film, was released. It is in cinemas now and it should be worth seeing.

And that’s it for another Flashback Friday. Join me next week for another Mystery Monday, another Exposé, another Flashback Friday, and maybe even more. Have a good one!

JJ