The Small Print

Jersey girl

2008-11-13T21:42:00.004+11:00

Image: Summer dress, Sewn, $88, www.sewn.com.au

Images: australianflavour.com.au, style.com, modamuse.com, Witchery Fashions, Sportsgirl, Bassike, Sewn, Elk Accessories

>Bang bang<

2008-10-14T20:22:00.005+11:00

Click to enlarge.

Images: Sportsgirl, Natasha, Maise, www.maximillia.com and www.frockyou.com.au

Modelling, it's reality.

2008-10-11T13:58:00.008+11:00

Reality TV shows have been dominating our television sets for the past few years. As a consequence of their ever-pervading presence, these shows are actively influencing what people aspire to be.

Admit it, you’ve all seen at least one episode of Next Top Model, may that be the American or Aussie version, or perhaps you’ve flicked to the new Jennifer Hawkins series, Make Me A Supermodel.

Australian modelling agencies have experienced a sudden increase in applicants as a result of these shows strutting their stuff on our television screens.

Experts in the modelling industry believe that such shows fuel interest in young guys and girls, encouraging them to seek modelling contracts with agencies.

“It’s because of all these rotten, rotten television shows” says Nicholas Alexander, booker at Scene Model Management in Sydney. “I always get lots of people calling me in the final episodes. Generally people have an instant celebrity need.”

In some cases this increase is being felt before the series has even come to a close.

Mr. Alexander said that the first few days of Search for a Supermodel brought in a lot of interested hopefuls to Scene Model Management, where he even recognised a few faces of those who had tried out but had not made it into the next round.

Catharine Lumby, Professor of Journalism and Media Research Centre at UNSW says that although “there may be an increase in applications… I don’t think that means they’ll be a big increase in the number of models. It’s like any industry, there’s a selection criteria.”

Director of Chadwick Management and Model Agency and a judge on Channel Seven’s Make Me A Supermodel, Martin Walsh says that despite the normal and steady stream of aspiring models contacting his agency, the numbers have indeed increased as of late, particularly in Melbourne.

“Obviously there is a great deal of community and media interest in the modelling world and sometimes the perception of the industry is quite different from the reality of it,” said Walsh. “I think sometimes these types of shows can perpetuate or reinforce negative stereotypes in the modelling world that we don’t really put up with.”

Perhaps these negative stereotypes may be in light of recent controversy surrounding Season Four of Australia’s Next Top Model, where Demelza Reveley, accused of intimidation and bullying, was named the winner.

Instead Walsh expects Make Me A Supermodel will give a wider audience a more thorough view of the process, of recognising a particular look and then initiating the transformation into a professional model.

So while fashion shows, magazines and Miss Universe pageants encourage girls to catwalk, pout and pose in front of their full-length mirrors, the ‘reality’ aspect of modelling shows encourage these girls to go out and actually catwalk, pout and pose in front of modelling agents.

According to Dr. Nicole Matthews, lecturer of Media and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University, by being able to pick and choose from a line of contestants, these shows seem to be limiting the definition of beauty. In particular they are reflective of the pressures placed on women.

“I don’t like the emphasis in our culture on young women, which is about being slender, about being even-featured,” she said. “It doesn’t incorporate people with differences of body shapes, people with disabilities, so there’s a very narrow understanding of what it means to be beautiful in those sorts of shows.”

Professor Lumby on the other hand considers young people to be quite smart because they realise fame is a commodity in society with economic and social benefits.

“It’s perfectly rational for a young person to decide they want to be famous than to decide they want to be a doctor or lawyer.”

Fame seems to be increasingly more accessible as these hit reality shows publicly televise the transformation from the ordinary into the extraordinary.

On average, modelling agencies receive between 50 and 60 enquires a week.

“A lot of 16-17 year-olds would be the majority,” says booker Mr. Alexander. “And then a few delusional people.”

Photo: istockphoto.com/Damir Spanic

Obam-ate '08 (all politicians need a rhyming name)

2008-09-19T22:35:00.005+10:00

Okay, so a bunch of designers have come up with a couple of goods in support for Barak Obama and a portion of the proceeds goes towards his campaign (it’s on the website, but I've never had a good head for numbers). And so maybe they’re not the chicest*. Maybe you’ve already got five billion and one similar things at home already. Maybe they’re not even relevant in Australia. But really, when else would you be able to buy designer goods and justify it by saying “I’m not just spending money again, this money is going towards a political campaign OKAY?”
Click to enlarge.

*although they do look better than the Kevin ’07 tees, no?

Images: barackobama.com

The Quiet Before the Storm

2008-09-16T23:00:00.005+10:00

A Red Cross shelter, before Gustav made landfall.

The city of New Orleans has been savaged by major hurricanes in recent years and this year has offered no reprieve. On the third anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Katrina, residents braced for Gustav. But how much better prepared was the city for the impending disaster? Bonita Silva reports.

It was the costliest, and fifth deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States of America. From it emerged incessant media coverage, an escalating missing persons list, and a succession of notorious political fumbles. It seemed only fitting then, that Hurricane Gustav would revisit New Orleans on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s wrath.

Amongst Mayor Ray Nagin’s ‘doomsday predictions’, remained an assortment of unanswered questions: Was the city equipped to handle another catastrophe? Would the same political blame game be displayed for the world to see? Had the city made any feasible progress in the past three years?

Those questions would be answered as the city prepared for the recurring chaos, a devastating reminder of the lingering pain.

The city is quiet during its mandatory evacuation period. It is 3:15pm on Sunday, August 31, as Michael Homan sits at his computer, three hours until the City of New Orleans has a curfew imposed – from dusk until dawn.

Mayor Nagin’s website declares: “Those persons who remain within the City of New Orleans do so at their own risk and are subject to arrest if they are outside the boundaries of their own property.” New Orleans resident, Homan, braved the destruction of Katrina, and discounted the warnings of Gustav, refusing to comply with the mandatory evacuation.

More amazing still is that his wife and two kids evacuated while he stayed home with his two dogs: “That made it easier to stay also knowing they [my family] were in no danger,” said the 42-year-old Associate Professor of Theology.

Community groups believe Katrina survivors were anxious and eager to leave in the wake of Gustav, and that the evacuation imposed by its political leaders was a necessity.

The Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now (ACORN) was heavily involved in the rebuilding of the city post Katrina, particularly in regards to helping low income residents in the Lower 9th ward.

“Many who had weathered the storm of Katrina were some of the first to board busses out of town in anticipation of Gustav landing here,” Charles D. Jackson, Communications Director of ACORN said. “So there is some anxiety amongst survivors having to relive the same emotional trauma that they experienced during Hurricane Katrina.”

The Association has been pushing the Army Corps of Engineers to work quicker in fixing the levee system. The levees (the federal flood protection system) failed catastrophically during Katrina, where 80 per cent of the city became flooded. Residents such as Homan also say that the levees must be fixed.

“Nobody used to evacuate, and this is not a feasible solution to where we live. People can't afford to miss work for a week due to evacuating, and moreover pay hotels and restaurants to survive,” Homan explained.

The New Orleans Survivor Council was formed by survivors to come together on an equal basis. When asked how far the city had come since Hurricane Katrina, Organising Coordinator Kim Nunez says: “In certain parts of town it looks like Hurricane Katrina never happened, and other parts of town, it looks like they just cleared the water out two weeks ago…people don’t understand that Katrina is still a daily hindrance.”

As a resident, Richard Read, 40, evacuated during Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav. Although survivors have gone through a cycle of optimism and pessimism, “I think we're on a big upswing, psychologically speaking,” says Read. “We’ve come along surprisingly well – but again, that has little to do with government help, and more to do with the stick-to-itiveness of our residents.”

When asked the same question, Southern Regional Director for Amnesty International USA, Jared Feuer says, “No. New Orleans has not moved anywhere near far enough.”

Amnesty International USA has been campaigning on the housing rights of internally displaced people over the past two years. The United Nations created the 1998 document ‘Guiding Principles for Internally Displaced Persons’. Twice as many people have been displaced in Gustav – two million – compared to Katrina’s one million.

“With the internally displaced, you have a situation where there are people who are still within the borders of the government that often created the situation leading to their very displacement, and as a result they often are in a hostile situation,” says Feuer. “They’re hostile at worst, often just neglectful at best, and as a result they don’t have access to… all the rights that are specified in the guiding principles.”

Feuer says at least the political rhetoric right now suggests a different approach to before.

The American Red Cross has 334 shelters open across eight states to house residents evacuated in areas hit by Gustav. “The organisation and collaboration between the non profit organisations such as the Red Cross and the government was much more coordinated,” says Jennifer Lubrani, Spokesperson for the American Red Cross. “There were already airplanes to transport people that could not get out of the city on their own. That had not happened in Katrina, and it did happen with Gustav.”

Jackson of ACORN also says there has been a vast difference in the handling of the situation, in keeping the public informed and providing transportation out of the city: “Apparently they learned from Hurricane Katrina and have taken measures to prevent such a catastrophe again.”

Jared Feuer says the problem with Katrina was that the city, state, and federal government were passing the blame to each other.

But resident Read believes Mayor Nagin continues to fail the city during Gustav: “My biggest problem is that Nagin doesn’t communicate with the public at all… We almost never hear from him, or from the man who’s meant to be overseeing New Orleans’ recovery, Dr. Ed Blakely,” he says. “That’s endlessly frustrating in a city where there’s still a lot to be done.”

Yet the city wasn’t hit as hard, and was under better political management during Hurricane Gustav, meaning groups are concerned about where that leaves New Orleans.

Amnesty is concerned about what can be expected: “Because Katrina was such an immediate disaster, it remained in the public eye. Our concern with Gustav is that because the flooding was less, the public is going to turn their attention,” explains Feuer.

“I think the storm has the great potential to highlight that New Orleans isn’t whole, that New Orleans still needs help, and if it’s used as that, I think it could be very powerful,” says Nunez of the New Orleans Survivor Council.

But in a city not yet whole, a mandatory evacuation in place, and now the Hurricane Ike blitzing through, what does it feel like with a city curfew intact? “Nobody pays attention to the curfew,” says New Orleans resident Homan.

Photo: Kati Garner/American Red Cross

Accessorize

2008-09-07T22:33:00.006+10:00

You know, I absolutely loved by the incredibly large and gorgeous flowers decorating the models' hair at the Illionaire show way back at RAFW SS 08/09 earlier this year. But let's face it: AM I REALLY GOING TO WALK DOWN THE STREET WITH AN OVER-SIZED FLOWER POPPING OUT OF MY HAIR? I think not*. So here are, in my honest and very humble opinion, some other accessories that also conjure up that slightly dreamy, ethereal, romantic and definitely floral vibe that's so perfect for spring. Click to enlarge.

*I would, but the constant bemused and puzzled looks from my boyfriend just wouldn't be worth it.

Images: Vogue.com.au, Modamuse.com, Kpau.com.au, Witchery Fashions, Diva Accessories, Sophie Kyron.

Forget spring; let's skip straight to summer

2008-08-03T20:55:00.005+10:00

Images: Sass and Bide, Witchery Fashions, www.frockshop.com.au, Wittner, Bardot, Topshop, Le Black Book, Just Jeans and Nine West.

Is it spring yet?

2008-07-23T11:15:00.007+10:00

Click to enlarge.

Images courtesy of Witchery Fashions, Sportsgirl, French Connection Australia, beloved.net.au, leblackbook.com.au, Mimco and Rockbottom_Rainbow, Zilch1 and Bunio via Deviantart.
Lyrics - Today the Sun's on Us by Sophie Ellis Bextor

Working it off

2008-07-04T19:30:00.002+10:00

You know, the reason I put up with all the photocopying and transcribing (not that it’s bad, it just gets a little… repetitive when you do it four days in a row) is because there is the promise that one day, maybe one day, I might actually get to write something (okay, and because I’m a slaving work experience girl and MK is so nice about the fact that I’m slave labour, etc).

Well, the day came. I GOT TO WRITE SOMETHING. And sure, I basically wrote about a TV show without ever having seen the TV show, and it was only 40 words, but hey! IT WAS WRITING THAT WILL (hopefully) BE PUBLISHED. I’d have been happy if it were 12 words! Even a title would’ve been good, dammit.

But other than that, life at work experience has been full of transcribing. I sat in on their production meeting a couple of times, during which two people discussed whether there should be three pages in a row or four pages in row without ads while everyone else just sat there. I learnt that in a weekly magazine, they work approximately three to four weeks ahead but this is very fluid. I also learnt that Excel can be used for purposes non-maths-related (they use Excel for to map out the magazine) which gave me an insight into the general structure, something which you’re aware of as a reader but never really take notice of.

But most of the time, I ran around doing odd jobs that will really add to my journalistic experience, such as taking CD’s out of their cases and photocopying. Ergh, yes, every work experience person’s nightmare. But I guess the main point of work experience is not about the “experience” – it’s about the contacts and it’s about being round these people, and having the opportunity to talk to them. MK asked me the other day if I needed to ask anyone questions because the entire team is quite experience and can you believe it? I don’t know what to ask. Geez, real journo I am.

Anyway, so next week I’m off (to the snow. Sick. GARGH!). But the week after I shall turn up, bright and motivated (to do more transcribing and photocopying) and full of inquisitive, intelligent and thoughtful questions… That’s the plan anyway.

Xx

Image: Total Film

Caffeine addict

2008-06-28T23:39:00.001+10:00

You know, if I could separate food and fashion, there is a 40 per cent chance that I would not only be able to fit into my clothes better, but that my clothes might be cleaner - it's actually scientifically proven that white cotton and red wine/Coke/orange juice/anything with staining potential are attracted to each other (Plausible? Yes. True? If you think that gullible isn't in the dictionary.)

But coffee - coffee is a different story, my friends. It cannot be separated. How else do you think everyone manages to stay so skinny and AWAKE in the industry? It's not those "eight" glasses of water a day - and they don't sell V overseas.

What's more, no coffee = a massive chunk of the colour wheel gone MIA. Espresso, mocha and latte with a dash of caramel and cream - colours that would exist, but not in the same way we look at them thanks to coffee. So enjoy this spread that's filled with all these lovely rich colours. And get a coffee (although I highly suggest waiting till tomorrow morning - coffee now is like arriving at the toll booth with fifty cents in your wallet. NOT GOOD.).

Click to enlarge.

Xx

P.s. More work exp stuff soon!

Images: leblackbook.com.au, frockshop.com.au, Mollini, Witchery Fashions, Jo Malone, Skullbulb, Perlekes via Deviantart.

Work experience: Work it, baby!

2008-06-19T09:19:00.003+10:00

DAY 1:
9:30 Pick up work experience insurance, think to self: “half an hour is PLENTY of time to get to the other side of Central”.
9:35 Get food.
9:40 Check email while eating.
9:43 Give money to awesome accordion busker wearing jester hat in the tunnel.
9:44 Power walk through tunnel. Still plenty of time, but still.
9:54 Emerge from tunnel, realise there are no street signs, shrug shoulders and think: "Well it’s not like there are THAT many streets right next to Central Station. How can this NOT on the right street?"
9:56 Realise that I am, indeed, NOT on the right street and start to panic.
9:58 See men in business suits, and with obvious logic, decide to follow them.
9:59 Make it into building JUST IN TIME. Float through doors feeling good like everything’s just fine.
10:00 Only to realise I have to line up to sign in anyway >sigh<

Okay, so I love this magazine. Really. Its shiny pages and clean, modern layout that is glamorous and intelligent while being down-to-earth, plus excellent writing and appealing topics are part of the reason I was attracted to journalism in the first place. The fact that a comedian whom I like very much periodically appears in its pages doesn’t hurt either.

Which means that if work experience here were crap – I’d be depressed. VERY depressed. It’d be meeting your favourite actor after having adored them for twenty years and realising they’re a complete idiot.

But it wasn’t crap, thank goodness. MK, the person in charge of me/does something to do with editorial, took me with her to get a coffee and we had a nice chat, I asked her what her role was exactly and she asked me about my part-time job. MK seems to be a really lovely person, and I’m glad she’s looking after me. Everyone else in the office seemed lovely too – I was only introduced to two other people in the all-female office (although funnily enough, when we had cake later in the afternoon, a man appeared) and they were funny, chatty and nice. Which helped me not feel like the biggest outsider/retard in the world. Excellent.

I had this expectation that I would be photocopying all day and generally being slave labour (see first post) and that would be fine because then they’d see I didn’t mind doing the boring jobs and they’d say something about a “good work ethic” yadda yadda yadda. But whoopee! I got to do * real * work. Not that I mind doing the boring jobs but still – who wouldn’t prefer transcribing interviews over photocopying? Especially interviews from a show that possibly has more crazy wackadoodle nuts than this season’s Big Brother! That sort of made up for the fact that I was doing it for SIX HOURS. (With lunch break and copious amounts of toilet breaks in between – there’s only so long you can listen to people blather about themselves. Really!)

And at the end of the day I got an early mark. So yes, it was fun. Yes, it was repetitive. Yes, I became a little crazy after transcribing interviews for six hours, (work experience insurance doesn’t cover mental health, does it?) but from what I can see so far, I’m going to really enjoy the place.

Xx

Barack's In... Now What?

2008-06-19T00:19:00.003+10:00

Its official: Senator Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party to face the Republican senator John McCain in November. Campaign slogans are being brandished about, but with the economy the number one concern of American voters, what does it all mean? BONITA SILVA reports.

The brandishing about of optimistic concepts was central to Barack Obama's campaign against Hillary Clinton: “change we can believe in” and the power of “hope” were the sentiments on which his general rhetoric was based. But since securing the Democratic nomination for the upcoming presidential election, Obama has taken a different tact. Now embarking on his general election campaign, Obama has become more focussed, specific, and grounded in his direction.

On the 9th of June he delivered a speech on the economy in Raleigh, N.C. In this address to 900 invited guests, Obama sustained an attack on McCain's agenda, asserting that "we were promised a fiscal conservative. Instead, we got the most fiscally irresponsible administration in history. And now John McCain wants to give us another. Well, we've been there once, We're not going back."

This is the core accusation and argument from Obama. Voting for McCain will result in nothing but a continuation of Bush's policies, from Iraq to the economy.

According to a CNN poll released last week, the economy topped Iraq, healthcare, terrorism and immigration as the most significant issue on voter’s minds.

The Obama campaign has shown that it is well aware of the voter’s concerns. Opening his two-week tour of contested states, the focus on the ailing economy was evident. He spoke of the loss of jobs over five consecutive months; more than 320,000 since the beginning of 2008.

“The percentage of homes in foreclosure and late mortgage payments is the highest since the Great Depression. The price of oil has never been higher and set a record on Friday for the largest one-day spike in history,” he said during his address.

For him, the cause of the crisis of the American economy is clear: “We did not arrive at the doorstep of our current economic crisis by some accident of history. This was not an inevitable part of the business cycle that was beyond our power to avoid. It was the logical conclusion of a tired and misguided philosophy that has dominated Washington for far too long.”

He proposed his own strategies to combat the issue should he be elected. A $50 billion economic stimulus package (a special package of spending and tax measures to enhance economic activity), relief for homeowners who face foreclosure, tax cuts for middle-income families/retirees, and an expansion of unemployment benefits.

Speaking at the National Small Business Summit in Washington, McCain highlighted the different approaches to the economy by the two candidates.

"No matter which of us wins in November, there will be change in Washington. The question is, what kind of change? ... Will we enact the largest single tax increase since the Second World War, as my opponent proposes, or will we keep taxes low for families and employers? ... This election offers Americans a very distinct choice about what kind of change we will have."

Clearly, in terms of the economic policy spectrum, McCain and Obama are on polar ends. Where Obama asserts that government should level the playing field for the lower income families/workers, McCain is the ‘classic fiscal conservative’ who believes in lowering taxes by small government.

Accusations of continuing Bush’s policies are apparent in McCain’s support in making the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent. He believes lower tax rates would boost the economy and increase savings.

Obama would keep the Bush tax cuts but has a slight variation which is aligned with his overall position on the economy. The tax cuts would no longer be in place for those Americans earning roughly $250,000 a year or more. Income taxes would also be abolished for seniors earning an annual income less than $50,000.

The Democratic candidate said, “My vision involves both a short-term plan to help working families who are struggling to keep up and a long-term agenda to make America competitive in a global economy.”

Though at this point, one thing is certain as the Republic candidate said, “We offer very different choices to the American people.”

Image: Tonx's Flickrstream

Work experience: episode 1

2008-06-17T20:38:00.006+10:00

Work experience: two words that are synonymous with both "Sweet. Unpaid labour!" or "I do these crappy things so that one day I might get a JOB THAT'S BETTER THAN YOURS, SLAVE DRIVER."

The English language is indeed fickle. In fact, it's even worse when you consider that sometimes there is work experience that doesn't fit into either meaning. Which is what I hope this will be - since it can't be the former, I HOPE IT'S NOT THE LATTER (please please please please).

...

Anyway.

Before day 1:

What do you wear to work experience?
Answer 1. "Indigo jeans and a nice white top," says the boy.
Answer 2. "Girl jeans. Everyone looks good in girl jeans," says the ex-boy.
Answer 3. Black chiffon dress + black opaques + black mary jane (see pics below)

Yo. Sounds good, we have two voting for the same thing, a decision can be made, I LIKE IT.

Except that I'm short and I'm too lazy to get my jeans altered so I have to roll them up and I look daggier than I did when I was eight and my parents bought me ANIME CLOTHES to wear. Okay, maybe not quite.

But in any case, after subjecting the boy to six or seven outfit photos, I finally decided on answer 3 + vintage gold chain + cream military coat from Bardot (before I looked too goth - did I mention my hair is dark too?)

Also, work experience insurance. Now, before anyone says anything bad about UTS, I just have to say that the girl who organises this is possibly THE reason that UTS does so well in journalism - she is an ANGEL at organising last-minute insurance for all these idiotic students. Such as me. Who had to fax in the insurance form overnight so she could have it signed first thing in the morning before I went to work experience. Gosh, I'm a douche.

Anyway, tune in for Day 1 tomorrow!

Xx

And please - don't say anything about me looking retarded, okay? That's how I look normally. Yes, my face does look like that normally and my head is normally cut off. So I'll actually be quite offended if you say anything.

Pretty pictures: Damn them.

2008-06-11T23:56:00.006+10:00

Click to enlarge. In the first image, left to right: Berrin Noorata, Abbey Drucker and Heidi Bivens.

Images: beautyheaven.com.au, Men.Style.com/, Betts Shoes, Zu Shoes, Mico-Mico, Witchery Fashions, Sportsgirl Australia, abbeydrucker.com, Luxe Accessories, Viva La Frock and American Apparel.

Literary Treason: Shakespeare’s makeover, Innit.

2008-06-11T02:47:00.010+10:00

Dorset author Martin Baum wasn't prepared for the global acknowledgement and success the book would generate.

The complexities of Elizabethan language have been replaced with ‘Yoof-speak’, opening up the world of Shakespeare to youth that might otherwise have given the playwright a miss. The man responsible for the transformation, Martin Baum, speaks to Bonita Silva about what it is like to be adored and abhorred.

England’s most prominent playwright has been subject to a memorable makeover; from traditional Bard, to a man possessing his many “fit bitches”. It’s this candid humour and satire that lends Martin Baum’s re-writing of William Shakespeare an endearing quality and amicability typically lost in literary works.

In a new compendium, ‘To Be or Not To Be, Innit,’ English satirist Martin Baum has reworked the Bard’s Elizabethan language into ‘a yoof-speak guide to Shakespeare’. Amongst 15 of the classic plays, are titles such as Macbeff, Two Geezas of Verona, and Romeo and His Fit Bitch Jools.

Although criticism and praise alike has been aloft in every corner of the literary bandwagon, Baum’s website asserts the book has stayed true to the original texts by “retaining all the important sexist, duplicitous, cross-dressing and violent moments that made William Shakespeare well wicked.”

Written by a man who adored literature and wanted to make Shakespeare more accessible to those who would otherwise share no interest, Baum has always tried to infiltrate his work with an entertaining aspect, and ‘To Be or Not To Be, Innit’ was no different.

“Although I wanted to turn people on to Shakespeare, I never gave a thought to ‘educating’ them. I only wanted to open their eyes through my interpretation and to be aware,” he says.

According to the synopsis for the tragedy Hamlet’s equivalent tale: ‘Amlet, Prince of Denmark, “Dere was somefing minging in de State of Denmark which was making Amlet all uncool,” where his love interest Ophelia becomes “de fit bitch he wanted to be all jiggy jiggy with.”

Traditionalists and the Shakespeare dedicated may have a problem or two: “When my book first grabbed headlines around the world, it seemed that everyone had an opinion on Shakespeare or, more to the point, the author.

“Although I received a lot of positive comments I was also receiving much negativity from people who hadn’t actually read the book but were still, nevertheless, outraged that in their eyes I had committed what amounted to literary treason, because I was perceived to have had the audacity to have rewritten Shakespeare. I haven’t.”

The Shakespeare Institute which is part of the University of Birmingham, is situated in Stratford-upon-Avon – Shakespeare’s birthplace. Director, Professor Kate Mcluskie believes it okay to reword the original works, though says it’s different: “like Mozart tuning without the orchestration.”

She says it’s only ‘literary treason’ if you view Shakespeare as the King or the bible. “He is neither of these and his plays do go on being a source for new forms of creativity - some of which is more creative, some less.”

Although Professor Mcluskie admits she hasn’t read Baum’s work, she says, “I doubt if it is any different from the hundreds of parodic versions that have existed since the eighteenth century. It may be as witty and iconoclastic as any parody but it is certainly not new.”

A Burberry-clad and blinged out Shakespeare has redefined the classics in a youth oriented manner.

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Baum has received several pieces of fan mail; mostly positive, with the occasional dearly offended.

One fan opposes Mcluskie’s view of interpretations being synonymous and identical. Jennifer from Australia says, “I have thought for years that someone should translate the Bards works into plain English, but never thought it would be so cleverly done and it shouldn't offend the purists because it is so very different.”

Two 15 year old girls shared a conflicting viewpoint. Mr. Baum averts The Small Print’s attention to the spelling, punctuation, and grammatical inaccuracies. Jenna and Shauni write, “hHe should not appreciated because he calls juliet a ‘fit bitch’ that is just disgraceing his name… the plays should not be changed for unrespectful teenagers. They should be educated in the elizabethian language not today's disgusting slang.”

Mr. Baum believes nothing has altered, and the storyline remains the same.

“No matter how progressive society thinks it is, and no matter how hard people try to take on the Establishment, elitism will always be a part of it as reaction, as my book has shown,” he says.

Professor Mcluskie however believes the question is whether it is a good parody or silly parody: “Some of the bloggers think it is the latter. It sounds as though it might offend so called ‘yoof’ more than it offends serious literary critics.”

Yet offence to youth may not be the obstruction. Street slang is part of evolution, an accepted part of society Baum says. Professionals and everyday people alike utilise abbreviations in text messages without sparing a thought for their facilitation of a “mangled English evolution.”

A critique Mr. Baum shares harps on the beauty of Shakespeare’s language. Editor of The Shakespeare Post, John Lawrence believes rewriting his language into “yoof-speak” means it “becomes a joke or a novelty.”

Mr. Lawrence is quick to dismiss the work, for “the only real relevance or positive outcome of this story is that Mr. Baum receives free PR for several days.”

Mixed reactions are nothing new. Baum says, “To some I’m exploiting and making a mockery of Shakespeare. I’ve been called a smug academic who’s too white and privileged to understand ‘the street’ and even, as disturbing as it sounds, a figure of hate.

“But to many I’m actually making a difference to, amongst others, parents or ordinary families who remember only too well how difficult it was studying Shakespeare when they were at school.”

When asked to conjure up a pick up line for Romeo had he been de fit bitch Jules sittin’ at de bar, Baum tells The Small Print, “Oy, sex on de stick, is you lookin’ for jiggy jiggy?”

From “getting maximum respect from all de boyz in de ghetto” with Macbeff, to “larging it and being so wicked with everyone” with Jools Ceasar – where to from here?

“Although the Bible was tempting, I think Charles Dickens is a natural progression,” he says.

Images: Provided by author

Leaders Special Edition: Barack Obama

2008-06-04T17:18:00.011+10:00

Hope/change vs 'experience'

You were going to be officially introduced to none other than Hilary Clinton, election '08 hopeful...but seeing as she seems to have been beaten by Obama, the spotlight is on him.

Barack Hussein Obama Jr. was a junior US Senator for Illinois from 1997 - 2004, and a nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Early in his campaign, opinion polls showed that Hilary Clinton was favoured over Obama. After a long campaign against rival Hilary Clinton, his powerful speeches and political strategy finally lead to his victory early this morning.

But Ms Clinton has not put an end to her political career just yet. She has shown interest in becoming Obama's vice-presidential running mate, believing that she can help the party. However, she has not yet given up on her own campaign.

Though he is not yet the next President of America, he is the first 'black' candidate to lead a major political party into a campaign for the Presidency. In the final 5-month stretch of his campaign, he will be up against Republican, John McCain. The victor will be the 44th President of the US.

Obama has had many influential supporters over the course of his campaign so far, including talk-show host, Oprah Winfrey and former Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards (who pulled out from the primary race in January this year).

Image: barackobama.com

Should We Protect or Deride Artistic Freedoms?

2008-05-30T14:30:00.004+10:00

Controversial as it may be, with accusations of ‘child pornography’ and criminal charges about to be laid, Bill Henson’s latest art exhibition has caused a whirlwind of hullabaloo in political, legal and artistic circles.

In an era of sexualised children and constant government enquiries into becoming a nation of thoroughly bred moral crusaders, the media, police, and politicians have hounded Henson like a pack of hyenas.

Critics and blogosphere’s alike have wanted to give their two cents on the controversy, more specifically regarding Kevin Rudd’s reaction: that of deeming the photographs ‘revolting’. As an ‘intellect’ many were expecting Rudd to understand the artistic and creative beauty behind the piece. What many were failing to realise however, was the practicality and logic behind his denouncement.

Children as young as 12 are being exhibited in these photographs. It would only be common sense to realise that the Prime Minister of the country has no alternative than to condemn the exhibition of unclothed children. With the recent government emphasis on 'letting kids be kids,' and enquiries into the sexualisation of children in the media and society, Rudd has no alternative but to condemn for the sake of consistency. The papers would have a field trip otherwise.

The greater predicament lies in using ‘art’ as a common veil and disguise: hiding the lewd and controversial under the pretence of art.

Giving this the green flag and essentially giving someone license to publish/disseminate whatever they see fit with a label of ‘creative freedom’ is a misused and exploited concept and wrongly so.

It’s only expected that something so readily accessible to the public should come under fire when it offends the sensibilities of society. An unequivocally lawless approach cannot be adopted in terms of art and creativity.

Intellectual and artistic freedoms weigh into the discussion in the examination of freedom of expression and censorship. In a democratic and liberal society, which exceeds the other? Protecting the subject matter when the government/police see it as essential, or freedom to express ideas and concepts which fall within the creative model?

Always difficult to ascertain, general moral standards shouldn’t be traversed for the sake of unreservedly administering a standard of freedoms. However Henson is being utilised as a scapegoat and criminal proceedings are exerting a rule of extremity.

Most people purporting critical views are missing the point. The deeming of it as ‘pornographic’ has offended the artistic sensibilities amongst us.

We all accept that Bill Henson most likely had no intention of producing these photographs for pornographic intentions. This isn’t an issue of adding to the collections of paedophiles across the nation.

What people fail to realise, is that by granting exemptions, a standard is set thereby increasing the general tolerability. When you legalise something, the law is telling society it’s acceptable and okay.

If Henson’s artworks are classified as suitable because it’s stored under the pretence of ‘art’, then it’s being validating and deemed okay in the name of creativity and intellectual/artistic freedom. The problem then lies in that in granting it some acceptance, it may validate child pornography in the minds of those with such tendencies.

Some restrictions are necessary. A blank cheque can’t be provided to every domain to reign free.

Pornography or art. Thoughts?

Photo: ABC TV

Pretty pictures: The City Minus the Sex

2008-05-28T09:46:00.005+10:00

Images: TFS, Witchery Fashions, Mimco, frockyou.com.au, Aldo, Kate Hurst.

Sydney Writers' Festival: The Road to Bennelong

2008-05-26T23:23:00.007+10:00

Margot Saville acknowledged the danger of being too close to the book’s subject when trying to objectively pen a political biography. “In the end it was my book, my reputation and the book had to stand on its merits and not to be seen as propaganda,” Saville told a Sydney Writer’s Festival audience at the Walsh Bay precinct.

Speaking about her book The Battle for Bennelong – The Adventures of Maxine McKew aged 50something, Saville conceded it was not her idea, likened the experience to childbirth and said she would do it again.

On knowing Maxine well, she said, “that’s kind of good and bad, I copped quite a lot of criticism for that and I think rightly justified in that it’s very hard to write objectively about someone who is a friend, and that was a constant balancing act for the book.”

To compensate, she was sometimes harsher on McKew than she needed to be to validate its contents.

The friendship didn’t hinder the substance of the material. Saville had no background as a political reporter, yet the publisher approached her because they didn’t want a standard political book.

Following Labor’s star candidate on her quest to unseat the Prime Minister, facilitator Deborah Cameron dwells on the importance of consulting both camps of the political spectrum: to which Saville says, “I did greet him warmly at Paddy McGuinness’s funeral. I greeted Mr Howard like an old pal but it was not reciprocated.”

But what was the difference between the candidates? “Mr Howard would only turn up [to local events] if there were media there. That was the difference.”

With odds at $4.50 at the start of the campaign, Saville calls herself an idiot for failing to bet. Then she “kept thinking that I wanted her to win because then I’d sell more copies of the book.”

When McKew won however, people started looking for explanations, and thought maybe her husband was responsible.

“Lot’s of people like to think that strong women are always directed by a man. It’s commonly held and people are always saying to me, Hogg’s behind it isn’t he.” She says, “I honestly think that’s not the case.”

With a Maxine the movie in the works, an audience member queries whether Bennelong has changed her. As a public figure, McKew’s become more cautious. Margot recalls a moment during the campaign when Maxine was standing in a queue to buy underwear and an onlooker commented ‘are you going to wear that on election night?’ She says Maxine can’t go out and do what she used to, because “there’s always someone with a mobile phone and a camera.”

Saville spoke of her transformation into ‘wallpaper’, mastering the art of becoming invisible. She was in and out of the office so often and present at all the events that everyone assumed she was there to work: “you get the best moments, when people don’t realise you’re actually observing them.”

A key setback was that she filed the book before Howard’s concession of Bennelong, which the audience noted happened after an extensive period.

Referring to the candidates as chalk and cheese, Saville says Howard clearly lost touch with key factions of the seat, enabling McKew to tap into the electorate.

“John Howard actually during the campaign never referred once to Maxine by name. We were always waiting for it. He always referred to her as ‘the Labor candidate’,” Saville says.

Photo: Taken by Bonita Silva

Sydney Writers' Festival: Signature Styles

2008-05-25T13:15:00.013+10:00

Linda Jaivin "signing" a book

There's a scene in the film National Treasure 2 where author Riley Poole peeks out hopefully from behind stacks of books at his own book signing. Except for an old man who waves vaguely to him, he sits there unnoticed until a girl approaches him and asks, “Are you Benjamin Gates?”

It’s not easy to be at a book signing. But when it’s an empty house, it’s even worse.“You’re always full of dread when you go to a book signing that you’ll embarrass yourself and the bookshop,” says David Dale, co-author of Soffritto – A Ligurian Memoir with Lucio Galletto. “You’ll be sitting there and half an hour goes by and you can see the sales assistants thinking, ‘This bloke’s a complete dud’.”

In a perfect world, at each book signing there would a reasonably long line of people. Why? Signed books equal money. “You can’t return signed books,” says Victoria Tomkinson, publisher for Linda Jaivin, author of The Infernal Optimist. “Out there with your sharpie, that’s money in your pocket.”

“Every author knows that,” Jaivin chimes in.

“Some writers have lots of people, other writers have hardly anyone - and when that's you, it brings back memories of adolescent rejection,” says Catherine Coles, author of The Poet Who Forgot.

Or worse, it reflects on the author’s bad performance. Chief queue wrangler for the Sydney Writers Festival, Morgan Smith, says that a long queue for book signings by authors is a measure of how well they captivate their audience at Festival events.

“Obviously,the big name overseas authors [have long queues] but also those who talk really well about their books and ideas,and somehow capture the imagination of the audience,” she explains.“You can always tell the writers who have been really good by the length of the queue.”

"But there’s a downside to popularity. “My hand doesn’t get tired,” says Dale. “My problem is to think of something to write.”

Jaivin says she has a way around this: “At the launch of my first novel, the comic erotic Eat Me, I came up with the idea of kissing someone’s book to leave a big red lip print.It must have been the champagne talking. Anyway,after that,everyone wanted a kiss on their book.”

“Because I had to keep refreshing my lipstick, I went through nearly the entire tube on the one night. Kissing copies of Eat Me became something of a tradition and I still do it when people ask – and occasionally when they don’t.” Was it worth it? “I never begrudge people my kisses. In case any other authors thinking of taking this up, I have one thing to say: matte works better than gloss.”

At least a kiss is simple – fans often struggle to understand what the author wrote. But sometimes this is deliberate.

“One time, I recall beginning a dedication and then realising I was less than 100 per cent sure how to spell a key word in it,” says Mark Tredinnick, poet and author of The Little Red Writing Book. “Fortunately for me, my writing is close to illegible, and I made sure it was at its least clear for the word in question.”

Jillian Rice, at lunch with Dale and Galletto, doesn’t seem to mind the near-illegible writing and says she always gets a book signed if she can. “I feel it gives me a personal connection to the author.” On the other hand, Roger Kerr, also at the lunch, doesn’t particularly care about a signature.

Rather, he uses the opportunity to engage in one-on-one conversation with the author. “I get them in on an unusual question,” he says slyly. “I like to ask them a question they don’t expect. The book signing is irrelevant, it’s more about the talking. I’m curious as to what sort of person the author is.”

Morgan Smith frowns on this. “The main problem in signing queues is when people want to tell the author their life story or give a long critique. “Ask for [your] book to be signed, keep the chat down to a nice compliment – ‘I loved your last book and I’m really looking forward to reading this.’”

“It’s very interesting,” says Dr Stephen Juan, Sydney University anthropologist and author of the Odd books series. “If the author is famous and the person has read several of their books, the reader already has a relationship with the author but the author does not know the reader at all.

“It’s a one-way relationship and it’s easy for a reader to be offended … because they just don’t understand the author doesn’t know them.”

For all the pitfalls, one rule seems simple: have a book by the author for the author to sign. Steve Toltz, author of A Fraction of the Whole, recalls: “At one signing, someone gave me the Burroughs book Naked Lunch to sign. I signed as William Burroughs.

Pic: courtesy of the supremely awesome Kris Lapez whom I am very much indebted to.

To Leave, or Not to Leave.

2008-05-24T22:37:00.006+10:00

The truth is, Hillary Clinton can never satisfy the public. If she left the race at any point in the past, she’d be brandished a quitter. Suffice to say the critics would brand it as ‘proof’ that she could never be the Democratic nominee. Stay? She’s selfish, stubborn, and ruining Barack Obama’s chances. But do they supersede her own? Bonita Silva asks.

More is at stake than just a Democratic nomination and potential to be the next President of the United States of America. It may be hard to believe and potentially on the melodramatic side; but pointedly true.

It’s inevitable to note that the campaign has been defined in part by race and gender. Supporters of both camps have been wielding the appropriate issue to their advantage claiming any criticisms are based upon an institutionalised discrimination. Hillary claims sexism is part of the pressure mounted on her to quit.

Granted, this is somewhat true. Politics is undoubtedly a big boy’s club – particularly when it concerns Presidents and/or Prime Ministers. John Edwards didn’t face calls to quit the Democratic race during his campaign despite severely low chances of winning the nomination. Critics could have easily dismissed his campaign as wasting key delegates. If Hillary were the opposing male candidate, most would agree that the same calls would not be waged with such enduring vigour.

Secondly, for the most part of Obama's and Clinton's contest, it wasn’t like John McCain and Mike Huckabee. It was a real contest: real in the sense that both candidates were equally poised at taking the nomination at several stages. Numerically, intellectually, charismatically and policy-wise, Obama and Hillary faced equal prospects and chances. On the road to the convention, either candidate had a legitimate chance at clinching the right amount of delegates (for what was a substantial and extensive period). Yet the calls to quit have plagued the latter half of her campaign.

Though mounting pressure can have its adverse effects. Undoubtedly the pressure has only hardened Hillary’s resolve and resilience. One thing is certain: she’s going nowhere.

Admittedly, she’s managed to overstay her welcome. Option one would be to quit altogether and retreat in humiliation. Option two involves a stronger conviction and belief in her reasons for being there. Either option poses problems at this stage. Although the latter has prevailed, it’s no longer in Hillary’s hands to change the outcome. Super-delegates have failed in their responsibility to make their choices known, to end the race, and subsequently end her current humiliation.

She has still managed to garner immense turnouts and gain support from key constituents and groups that Obama is failing to register with. Where she leads over such a key demographic (that of the white, middle class, middle aged voters), critics should be weary of dismantling her efforts and discrediting her style. She’s earned her right to be standing where she is.

There’s not a single doubt that ego protruded in the way of a successful campaign. With a ‘Clinton’ brand name, she acted in a manner that suggested she was entitled to and deserved the nomination because of her ‘experience’ and all would assume – her family name. An exit of any means is now rendered ungraceful: but it’s now the super-delegates responsibility to quell that humiliation and let their choices be known.

“This is one of the closest races for a party’s nomination in modern history,” she mused. It’s true, and let the rightful candidate earn each vote to clinch the nomination.

Photo: Daniella Zalcman's Flickrstream

Let's go to Hope Street

2008-05-17T18:35:00.006+10:00

Vox pops from designers at the Hope Street Markets (today and tomorrow, Paddington Town Hall). Click to enlarge.

Images: Hope Street Markets homepage and Limedrop. Vox pops by Annette Lin, who had an awesome time at the markets today and congratulates herself on actually being able to find an all-day parking spot in Paddington. Skills.

A Sandwiched Generation

2008-05-17T15:11:00.004+10:00

You take your shoes off before entering the house.
You’re not allowed to sleep over at friend’s places.
Your parents shop at Asian grocery stores, (you have no idea what they’re buying).
You can speak English without an accent.
You regret the fact that you didn’t learn Mandarin, or any other Asian language properly at Saturday language school.

You are Asian-Australian.

The 21st century marks a new generation of Asian-Australians. We are witnessing the rapid emergence of Asian-Australian youth. These of which are individuals that have been born and bred in Australia, forming a mixture of Eastern and Western values. In realizing this generation, we are noticing that dilemmas are arising in identity formation.

“They said we should go out and have smart Asian kids, then they were like Jenny and Hwasung studying in the tree, s-t-u-d-y-i-n-g!”

Jenny Nguyen-Khuong is a year 12 student, and a highly experienced recipient of racial taunts. For simply appearing Asian, Jenny has been the object of many taunts and stereotypes, and the school yard is no exception.

School days are ones in which popularity is a life-or-death necessity. Being accepted is what makes our world go round. It is this environment which influences how we grow, and how our identity forms. It is however, being a part of more than one culture that can skew our chances of becoming the crowd favourite, because Asian-Australians are obviously ‘different’ from the average ‘Aussie’.

Miss Nguyen-Khuong brings to light the idea of racial association through the taunts that she has received in the past. This is the notion that all Asians know each other, should be paired together, or because they ‘look alike’ the assumption is made that they are related.

This notion is also reflected in Year 11 student, Tiffany Hoang. From the moment schooling life began for Tiffany, she was immediately paired with another Vietnamese boy and labeled ‘brother and sister’, despite the fact that they were not at all related.

“We would be embarrassed to know each other. We got affiliated with each other, just because we were both Asian.”

It seems harmless, but racial association can lead to Asian-Australian youth to reject their Asian culture and desire the Western lifestyle. Living in Western society can certainly emphasize differences in regards to being Asian, thus to be accepted, individuals go to lengths to try and assimilate.

“We’d come up with 101 Asian things that we’d try to un-associate ourselves with, like I refuse to eat sushi in public.”

This is what we can label “Asian dissociation’. To be accepted within Western society, Asian-Australian youth aim to separate themselves from anything characteristically ‘Asian’. It allows them to question what they want to be associated with.

Seeking acceptance through Western incorporation creates identity and self esteem dilemmas, causing an imbalance in cultural relations. Asian-Australian youth are constantly measuring themselves against their Western friends, and if what they see and feel does not satisfy them, it will continue to take a toll upon their ‘Asian’ identity.

Another common dilemma is the idea that Asian-Australian parents are ‘too strict’. Asian-Australian youth are critical of their parents for not embracing a more ‘Western lifestyle’. These youths are put under constant pressure to work hard, achieve academically and also harbour the value of respect. Australian youth however, tend to be brought up in a more relaxed climate. Asian-Australians witness the greater independence their Western counterparts receive and tend to idealize this Western ‘freedom’.

Lucy Samsa-Knapp could be labeled a fully fledged Australian. She has the ‘no worries’ attitude, where everything comes in her stride. In her perspective, “Asian parents seem strict and not accommodating, you all think you’re bad children.”

It is this idea of feeling ‘bad’ which comes from defying parental rules, so as to assimilate into Australian society and obtain this sense of belonging. The rules and expectations Asian-Australian parents harbour may seem impossible to achieve.

Asian-Australian youths are expected to follow traditional Asian values, but still maintain a socially healthy lifestyle in Australian society. These two opposing lifestyles create such obvious dilemmas for these individuals, who feel pulled between two worlds.

Asian Australians – they’re caught in the middle, something that we can call the ‘sandwiched generation’. They are clearly a part of both Western and Eastern culture, yet at the time they are not completely one or the other. They are considered Asian in Western society, and clearly Western in Eastern society. It adds a significant dimension to who they are, and who they are to become.

Mercedes Overcome by Power

2008-05-15T23:56:00.006+10:00

Sensationalism, chequebook journalism and ratings: three concepts you thought would escape you upon completing HSC Advanced English and ‘Frontline’ – though Anna Coren and the ‘Today Tonight’ team prove otherwise in the monotonous case of the Corby’s and the daft ex-best friend.

The portion of media interest and coverage on Schapelle and Mercedes Corby has been relentless and (overdone). Strangely enough, the media continues to bask in the tragically hopeless light that is the Corby’s. From pleas of “I’m innocent” to “the family’s embroiled in drug trafficking” to defamation cases – the courts, media and public have heard it all.

Although much has been said about Jodie Power (the ex-best friend) and Mercedes herself, perhaps the more alarming question is the conduct of the Channel Seven network in the latest controversy to plague the media and the judicial system.

‘Today Tonight’ secured an interview with Jodie Power, the “money-hungry” former friend by offering $120,000 and an all expenses paid trip to Canada. All in exchange for telling the “truth”: and by truth, we mean everything the network demanded to hear. Stuart Littlemore QC, representing Mercedes Corby in her defamation case against Seven, told the NSW Supreme Court that a letter to Ms Power from the network was “telling her what answers to give, otherwise she wouldn’t get the money”.

A pretty serious allegation when it involves entire fabrications. Locked in a battle with Channel Nine’s ‘A Current Affair’ to take the current affairs ratings title, Littlemore accused the network of degrading to dishonesty and deception.

It’s the classic example of chequebook journalism, where accessibility to the truth is hindered as journalistic integrity is compromised for economic success. Such is the paradoxical nature of the media – being locked in constant rivalry to outdo the other network thereby maintaining groundbreaking ratings, and to simultaneously uphold principles of integrity and honesty.

There in itself lies the obstruction. Satisfying society’s insatiable need for controversy and hearsay, the quick-fix for slipping ratings is a nod in the direction of falsities and trivialities; preventing the truth from being absolute, or even resolutely close to midway.

Power was portrayed as fearing retribution from her public statements, and as having fled the country in the first of the ‘Today Tonight’ programs to be aired. Is it any surprise that she had left the country 10 days earlier on a planned trip to Bali and Vanuatu – paid for entirely by Channel Seven?

‘Today Tonight’ apparently commissioned a viewer’s poll, where 82% found Ms Power’s account of the events to be credible, exemplifying just how effortless it is to construct your own truths and instil them into society. (Many will argue that the intended target audience are evidently gullible, unintelligible citizens who shouldn’t be afforded any credibility or intelligence… however it is a distressing sight when Today Tonight welds any influence over any capable person in society)

Call me naïve, but I had some hope in the principles behind journalism: it’s for this very reason I chose to do a journalism degree. But as questionable as this conduct is, to what extent is it apparent in real journalism? Would it still be naïve to hope real journalistic integrity exists in most of the media/public sphere? (…suffice to say, ‘Today Tonight’ falls outside of this category)

Maybe the fact that Ms Power lied is the issue as most media appears to be purporting. Or maybe it’s the willingness of the station to traverse ethical boundaries for economic profitability. Channel Seven’s passivity towards conceptualising truth and justice has taken advantage of a family that has arguably buried their own grave. This should provide no exemption: treating another’s private doings as a commodity in a collaborative effort to trivialise and sensationalise, effectively demeans the general role the media plays.

To belittle and lie to such grand extremes is also an insult to society’s intelligence.

It’s fairly relevant to note, and somewhat perplexing to hear the former head of the New York Times, John Swinden declare in 1953: “The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify… We are the tools and the vassals of rich men behind the scenes… Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.” Prostitutes of the intellectual variety or not, it’s pretty easy to see why half the world hates journalists.

Written by Bonita Silva who believes the Corby’s need to stop smuggling drugs and name their kids after real bogan names instead of brands they can’t afford.

Photo: Peter Morris @ SMH

Leaders PART 2

2008-05-15T21:09:00.014+10:00

In the first part of this post, I introduced you to Putin, Medvedev, Sarkozy and Carla Bruni.

In this next part, you will be coming face to face with Mugabe and his political opponent...Tsvangirai. Hu, Obama and H.Clinton will have to wait for the next edition.

So say hello to Robert Mugabe. Mugabe has been the President of Zimbabwe for 25 years, and is known for his anti-imperialist stance. He became President in 1987, and was re-elected in 1990, 1996 and 2002. His political career, and especially his time as President have been very controversial.

For example, in the recent 2008 presidential elections, he has again been accused of vote-rigging. In the past, he has also been accused of intimidation, and preventing certain groups from casting their votes.

The 2008 elections have shown, however, that the people want a new president. Mugabe lost to his opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, but insisted that there be a presidential run-off to determine the winner.

And this leads nicely, to Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe's opponent in the presidential election. Tsvangirai has agreed to have a presidential run-off, and he will be starting his run-off campaign when he arrives back in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai is currently the President of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He is a known politcal and human rights activist, and founded the MDC in 1999 in response to President Mugabe. He lost the 2002 Presidential election against him and has been arrested and tortured on several occasions by the Zimbabwean government.

In the coming run-off campaign and election, Tsvangirai has stated that there will be free access for the media, including the international press. Hooray for the media (and, I suspect, also for Mr. Tsvangirai)!

Pictures: Reuters, Reuters Africa

Have you Met Miss Coles?

2008-05-14T19:57:00.007+10:00

Meet the graduate project of Melanie Coles – a tall, lean figure wearing red-and-white striped beanie that matches a red-and-white striped jumper. It’s Wally, from Where’s Wally – only he’s 16.45 metres long, and he’s lying on a rooftop somewhere in Vancouver, waiting for someone to find him on Google Earth.

Coles, a 22-year-old media arts student in her last year at a well-respected art school in Vancouver, the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, laughs as she tells the story of his conception. “I was just joking away on the phone with my friend when I came up with it. We just laughed it off.”

Indeed, most people would dismiss the idea of creating a gigantic Wally. Coles, however, is also the sort of person who can take a seemingly ridiculous idea, and make it work. What’s more, she makes it work well. Her grade for the project was an A, and media attention has been received from all over the world, from the US to Belgium and from Brazil to Portugal. Wally has been discussed on blogs around the world as well, and her own blog about the project receives over 13, 000 hits each day.

Coles takes to fame well. During our phone conversation, she’s friendly, sweet and endearingly open. “I didn’t think that people would blog about it.” She pauses and giggles. “It’s kinda nerdy.”

Hailing from the small town of Oliver in British Columbia, Canada, Coles grew up in a tight, close-knit family. Her father was a schoolteacher, while her mother stayed at home to look after Coles and her older sister, and would spend each summer baking pies, says Coles.

It sounds pretty idyllic. “It was! I’m was really lucky, I had such a positive childhood.”

So perhaps it’s no surprise that most of her artworks reflect a desire to return to childhood, or even yesteryear. A recent exhibition of hers was described as follows: “The work of Melanie Coles is lovely and smart. It brings back the past and inspires the child in you to get out the glue stick and make a fantasy world from clippings.”

“I guess I am really nostalgic,” she says in a slightly doubtful manner, as if the idea has never occurred to her. But she warms into it. “I’m into images of Americana from, like, the 1930’s to the 1980’s, and also pop culture.”

“But I also do a lot of appropriation, like I take things that already exist and put them with something else, or put them in a situation that might not necessarily exist.”

Like Wally? “Yeah, like taking Wally out of context.”

It’s clear that her giant Wally is a subject dear to her heart. Less than a minute into our phone conversation, she’s describing the process of researching Wally, her graduate project, and her round Canadian vowels becoming more pronounced as her enthusiasm begins to show.

“From about October, I had to go through the logistics. The first thing was figuring out where to put Wally, then testing the materials. It had to be thicker than paper since who knows when Google will take a snapshot? But then it couldn’t be sheets either because we’re in Vancouver, it’s really wet and the sheets would become see-through. Then if we used vinyl the paint might drip off so we went to a discount store and had to find vinyl that was porous.”

“She has the kind of infectious enthusiasm and a leadership style that made it possible for her to get a whole bunch of friends to turn up on a freezing, classical "dark and stormy night" to borrow sand from the beach,” her friend and classmate Nancy Strider said.

Coles explains. “I got all my friends together, because Wally needed to be weighed down, and we went to the beach on a stormy night and filled up some sandbags.”

Fortunately, Coles doesn’t mind storms. Nor does she scare easily. Forced to hire a studio to paint Wally in due to his size, the only place cheap enough was in East Hastings, an area of Vancouver where used condoms and syringes lie scattered on the footpaths and where the HIV infection rate is one of the highest in the Western world. “It’s actually one of the worst neighbourhoods in Canada and I don’t really like it, but the studio was only $100 a month!”

So where is Wally now? “My roof is slanted, so Wally’s actually lying on the rooftop of my part-time job,” she giggles.

“It’s an innovative and creative idea that we all enjoy at the store,” says her co-worker, Johnny Payne, at Zulu Records Store. “She’s one of our favourite employees. I’m a big Waldo fan, and I’m 100 per cent behind her, everyone is. She’s a really smart and creative person – I thought [Wally] would take a lot of work, but she totally got it down exactly how she wanted to.”

Well she’s worked hard at it. Not many people would want to do what is technically homework on the weekends, but Coles did. And as she says, “It’d be the best story to tell – ‘What did you do on the weekend?’ ‘Oh, I painted a giant Waldo.” She laughs.

All this work has paid off and Wally fans from around the world have inundated her with praises and adoration. But Coles, it seems, takes it with the attitude of a girl who still can’t believe her luck. Nancy Strider says, “We were walking home at midnight on the seawall after the school closed, and I pulled out my voice recorder and asked her how it all felt. She talked about how up till a couple of days before she would have been happy with 20 hits, and that now she had gotten 10,000 in a single day. I asked her how that felt, and she said, ‘It's hilarious!’”

Many thanks to Henry Ngo for finding the subject.

Pic: supplied by subject

I Can't HEAR You.

2008-05-11T17:41:00.007+10:00

Modern technology allows us to say ‘fuck off’ in a socially acceptable way.

Words: Amy Huynh

Headphones are like the ‘do not disturb’ sign that you find hanging on hotel-room doors. It’s a privacy statement. You enjoy the music, whilst everyone else knows to leave you alone, without you even having to lift a finger.

The explosion of portable music systems, such as the MP3 and iPod, has encouraged this passive form of communication; just shove on your headphones and you’re suddenly off-limits. It’s a magical people repellent. These ingenious contraptions allow us to shut out the world, even in the most public of places.

I’m a regular bus and train commuter. I know that when it comes to catching public transport, headphones/earphones are a must. They work in avoiding the weirdos and twats that always seem to lurk in these public domains. My regular weirdo is an old man, who on every bus trip takes it upon himself to sidle up to me and whisper: “Hello, you look like my daughter”.

For the record, I don’t look like his daughter (he’s shown me pictures), I’m Asian and she’s European. I also have it on good authority that he uses this line on every girl he meets on the bus. Weirdooo. It’s cases like this when you whip out the headphones and stare out the bus window. Unfortunately this doesn’t stop the old man from staring in my direction, but it does fend off any conversation, and eventually he loses interest.

Headphones/earphones are not only used for dodging the creepy. They come in handy in easing out of conversations – particularly when you’re feeling anti-social. This is when you leave one ear-piece in your ear, whilst the other dangles on the side. It’s not rude; it just shows that you can multitask. And if the conversation dies, then luckily you have the other ear-piece to occupy your vacant ear. This avoids any additional conversation from starting. That’s right, embrace anti-socialism.

Music is your friend. Music is inspiration. Music is pretty much everything. Having a set of rancid quality earphones, just doesn’t give it any justice. A statement of privacy should be made with style.

There are some pretty nifty headphones around which makes the listening experience simply divine.

Got your wires in a tangle? Say hello to cordless headphones. These will let you rock out to your music pain-free. No longer will you look like a fool by spending half your life untangling your wires. Just be prepared to dish out a few extra dollars to get these Bluetooth wireless headsets. And at all costs, avoid headphones with antennas, unless of course you really do want to look the fool.
Even better, now there are ‘noise cancelling’ headphones out in the market. If I couldn’t hear you before, there’s absolutely no chance of hearing you now. These headphones allow full self-immersion with sublime audio quality, by cancelling out external sounds.

Oh, and it gets better. These classy headphones are even good for your health. BONUS! This is because there’s no longer a need to raise the volume to deafening decibels to block out the shit of the outside world.

So embrace solitary existence and get some noise cancelling headphones, and while you’re at it, some dark sunnies too. People will know you mean business, and they’ll bugger off.

Pretty Pictures: Cheap and French Chic

2008-05-10T21:52:00.006+10:00

French women = effortlessly hot. Why? Is it the sexy French language ("Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?")? Is it the new First Lady? IS IT THE ESCARGOTS??

Who knows. But whatever it is, I want me some of it.* Enjoy and click to enlarge.

*Escargots actually taste quite nice, smothered in garlic and butter and with a texture reminiscent of mushrooms. Just don't look underneath - the sight of all those little suction feet is kinda gross.

Images: En Vogue via Miss at La Playa, Witchery Fashions, Sportsgirl, Le Black Book, American Apparel, Style and the City.com, TFS, Numero Fevrier 2008.

My 480 word stint as a Columnist

2008-05-10T21:33:00.010+10:00

Let me start by putting the following into context for you. Recently, I became aware that my own father, 51 years of age, has decided to get a facebook account. In fact, I stumbled upon this information, and went straight to facebook to see if it was real.

Unfortunately, it was.

Now, I have nothing against people getting facebook accounts, and creating their own little profile on online social networking sites. However, when it comes to my own parents, I have to put my foot down.

Technology may be good in doses, you know, when it comes to emailing, and perhaps instant messaging, but once parents start using the same social networking sites as their own children, nephews and nieces…something ain’t right.

I don’t mean to discriminate, or maybe I do, but though these sites are ideally for anyone, it does feel a tad bit odd to be wandering around facebook, seeing pictures of friends and siblings, and then walk smack bang into a page all about your parents.

Perhaps there should be another facebook-esque site, dedicated to connecting parents, so that there is no generational clash. Not that I have anything to hide, but it’s scary enough to think that potential employers will hunt you down on facebook, without having to worry about parents doing the same.

And if that little anecdote didn’t do it for you, try this. My grandfather is 79 years old. No, he has not yet joined facebook and created an army of vampires (and let’s hope it stays that way), but once he got his hands on technology, in the form of his shiny laptop and internet connection, he became the person everyone hopes will not receive chain letters, or ‘amusing’ emails.

Yes, he will send anything and everything to everyone he knows, whether you were the one who sent him the email in the first place, or not.

At first it was tolerable, he was getting a feel for the internet, testing it out and expanding his field of knowledge. But this was 2 years ago, and it still continues. Don’t drink milk, or you’ll get cancer. In fact, eat nothing because everything can give you cancer, apparently. But then again, you may die of starvation. Hmm…

Once again, I say this so you won’t think that I am just downright mean, but technology was supposed to be something which would help us, and make things more convenient and accessible. In a sense, my father and my grandfather are just proving that this can be reality. However, like drinking milk, and eating various food products, it must be in moderation…or we’ll all get cancer.

Since I am nearing the end of this column, and you know how I feel about the issue, I now put this to you. Regarding older generations, is technology truly a help, or really just a hindrance in disguise?

Picture: flickr - fortinbras

Celebrating Young Talent

2008-05-09T14:48:00.018+10:00

Junior RockIT Winners, Irksome Bliss

National Youth Week (NYW), the largest celebration of youth, had nearly 2500 high schools and 200 universities and TAFEs joining in the celebrations from April 5th to 13th.

With over 2,500 events and activities nationwide, NYW has a string of official supporters including Neighbours actor Matthew Werkmeister, and Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist, swimmer Stephanie Rice.

“It’s a time where we can highlight the positive contribution that young people make to their community. Because I think that we need to hear more positives about young people,” says the Minister for Youth, Linda Burney MP.

The joint Australian, State, and Territory Government initiative has been run annually since 2000.

The NSW Young Member of the National Planning Group, Rebecca Sowles, says the youth week launch and the five talent competitions are the two biggest initiatives of NYW.

“The national planning group has a young member from every state and territory. The big thing that they’re working on at the minute is the national launch for youth week: Video Hits is having a live to air at Martin Place,” she says.

People aged 12 to 25 have a chance to be involved. In NSW alone, the State Government provided over $25,000 to Councils to stage activities and events.

Five National Talent Competitions were held as the creative core of discovering and rewarding Australia’s youngest talent. 12 to 17 year olds applied for the junior division, while 18 to 25 year olds applied for the senior division, as either individuals or groups.

Judged by some of Australia’s most esteemed creative forces, the prospective winners will be announced on 23rd June. “It’s a big opportunity for young people to enter those competitions on a national level,” says Ms Sowles.

Ms Burney agrees, saying “As the Minister for Youth I take every opportunity to talk up young people – not talk them down – and promote their creativity, energy and ideas. Youth Week demonstrates this and more.”

RockIT entrants recorded an original composition, and DesignIT entrants created a digital static design based on the theme “make a move”. WriteIT required a 1,500 piece with the thematic concerns of improving mental health. ShootIT asked entrants for a two and a half minute film about young people being economically intelligent; and SnapIT entrants had to incorporate the theme of ‘action and adventure in the outdoors’ into their work.

Although winners receive a valued Industry Award, it’s not entirely up to the judges. Another four entries will be selected in each category for the People’s Choice Award, where the public will vote in May for their favourite.

But what exactly does this talent competition mean for young people? The winner’s of 2007 shared their thoughts.

As the SnapIT Senior winner, for her ‘Pavilion Scoring’ shot, Brenna Sharp uses her Nikon professional camera pack to take amazing shots: “you can do more when you have the right equipment!”

Media Student at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Elliot Heatwole, says “a career in the film industry has been my main motivation for many years and this motivation was a key factor for entering the competition”.

The ShootIT Senior winner uses the Canon video pack to shoot all of his current projects, allowing him to make the movies he wants without the “added technical difficulties of ageing equipment”.

“The accolade itself was (and still is) proving exceptionally valuable,” with the award being a major talking point and asset in interviews for various universities, says Mr Heatwole.

Similarly, Andrew Babington enjoys photography and visual arts, but it’s his passion for film that made him ShootIT Junior winner for his piece, ‘The Last Day’. After he completes his HSC in a few months, Andrew will be attending the Australian Film Television and Radio School to be trained as a feature director.

Of his style, Andrew says “working with emotion and strong sense of music is essential to my style”. Twelve films have been shot so far on the $5,000 Sony High Definition camera that he won, and he’s utilising it for all HSC work.

Irksome Bliss has been composing music since 2006. The high school friends won both the industry and people’s choice award for RockIT Junior. The accolade has no doubt added to the prestige the band has garnered lately, with upcoming gigs at the Gaelic Club and Come Together Festival: “we always jump at opportunities to go in competitions and get more exposure”.

The prestige complimenting the award certainly benefited Jason Morey, the SnapIT Junior winner, being accepted into Art School without an interview.

Yet sometimes it’s the reassurance that’s necessary. Kunal Sharma, the WriteIT Senior winner for ‘Some Asian-Pacific Chronicles,’ says “it has given me a great degree of confidence and reassured me of my writing style…the competition has given my work quite a bit of exposure and I’m very grateful for that.”

Robi Stalder submitted his entry for the inspiring theme in DesignIT Senior: “receiving this award really encouraged me to take my passion for illustration and myself as a designer more seriously.

Though Mr Babington says, “I don’t think the competition really furthers or teaches anything; it only encourages people to get experience on their own part by actually going and making their art. Myself, it gave me a lot of media exposure in June last year, which was extremely helpful”.

Mr Stalder agrees, believing that “promoting the individuals behind these achievements rather than simply awarding them may be more beneficial”.

The week still remains as “a great opportunity for young people to showcase their talents and raise awareness of issues that affect them,” says the Minister for Youth.

One in five young people in Australia experience depression, and Beyond Blue CEO Leonie Young says over 60 percent don’t get the professional help they need.

It is for this very reason that Beyond Blue have decided to collaborate with the national initiative, as a sponsor. Ms Young says it is a fantastic opportunity for “young people to get together, have fun and find out about where help is available in their communities.”

Photos: Irksome Bliss, Linda Burney MP, Robi Stalder - [all provided directly from parties themselves]

Random thoughts: Take the 'A' Train

2008-05-08T21:28:00.006+10:00

You must take the A train/To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem/
If you miss the A train/You'll find you missed the quickest way to Harlem

I can’t do everything. I can’t cook, I can’t teach people, I can’t do maths. Which is all very well – I’m sure there are loads of people who can’t do these things. But not knowing how to catch a train?

Don’t be silly, you say. Everyone knows how to catch a train. Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Until a few weeks ago, when my friend admitted that she didn’t know how to catch the train.
It wasn’t even Cityrail’s fault. See, when it was time to go through the ticket barriers, she tried to put the ticket in the top slot rather than at the front. You know, the slot where the ticket normally comes out. And she wondered why it didn’t work.

Which got me to thinking about ‘bus’ people and ‘train’ people. People who prefer one over the other. Trams and monorails don’t come into the picture because only tourists and lazy people unlike myself *coughs* catch those in Sydney.

I’m talking about people who would rather stand on a train for an hour and go on a massive detour to the city than catch a direct bus. “The bus is too slow,” they whine. Even though catching the train, thanks to Cityrail’s decree that all of us must go to at least Sydenham before we can change trains, can be even slower.

Or people who detest trains for some obscure reason like “I can’t get off exactly where I want to,” or even “trains are dirty.” Well, yes they are, but so are buses. But you know what? These people are just in denial – they don’t want to admit that they’re ‘bus’ people.

How does this happen? I think it’s got something to do with demographics, and where you live. The friend I mentioned above is clearly a ‘bus’ person, possibly because she grew up in the Eastern Suburbs (I don’t understand why the Illawarra line is also known as the Eastern Suburbs line, when it reaches only two Eastern Suburbs. Come to think of it, it doesn’t go anywhere near the Illawarra either. But that’s for another day) and therefore caught the bus everywhere.

But then, by that reckoning, I’d a ‘bus’ person too, mainly because that was also the only way for me to get anywhere until I got my license. Except that reason backfires, because now I hate buses so much I’d rather drive to the station than wait 20 – 50 minutes for a bus that may or may not come, depending on what the bus driver feels like.

In any case, it doesn’t really matter. The important thing is we’re catching public transport and helping the environment or something. But next time you’re bored, try to convince a friend who is clearly a ‘bus’ person or a ‘train’ person to catch the other mode of transport. It’s pretty entertaining.

Images: ~Livingdejavu and realcambo from Deviant Art
Song lyrics: Duke Ellington

Coffee Conundrums: Fair and Free?

2008-05-07T02:25:00.008+10:00

In the midst of Fair Trade Fortnight 08, Bonita Silva investigates the Australian Fair Trade movement, its critiques, and whether free trade can work together to provide a sustainable outcome.

Cameron Neil, the Certification and Labelling Manager for Fairtrade Labelling Australia and New Zealand, believes Fair Trade is an alternative way of doing trade and business, and that the producer and consumer can both win.

In response to criticisms coinciding with Fair Trade Fortnight 07, Neil says “Free trade and fair trade can go hand in hand, [but] our point is that your focus on free trade and the abstraction that is free trade, disguises the fact that people are living in poverty, being disadvantaged and being screwed over right now, today.”

However the reason why international coffee prices is so low is due to extensive overproduction in world coffee supply. Fair Trade only exacerbates the issue, as contended by the Director of IP and Free Trade, Tim Wilson at the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). He suggests the best method of raising prices in everyone’s interest, is the consolidation of farms through free market.

Oxfam Australia disputes this notion, for “whether or not Fair Trade can be applied in the mainstream, the lack of alternatives and the absence of government safety nets for poor producers make this sort of support to farmers an entirely justifiable and appropriate attempt to cope with the human cost of the rigors of the free market,” says a spokesperson.

As part of Fair Trade Fortnight, the Fair Trade Association’s major nationwide event is the ‘coffee break’, where groups host a morning tea to raise awareness of fair trade related issues.

Republica, a wholly fair trade branded coffee is being stocked in Woolworths and Coles as of this year. Jacqueline Arias cited three reasons serving as inspiration in creating ‘Republica’: her love of coffee, her birthplace of Columbia, and a passion to do something ethical.

“It’s equally important to people who live in third world countries, particularly those that are not protected by any government or any sort of social forces, to be paid fairly,” she says.

Though can fair trade and free trade essentially collaborate to bring about an effective international trade mechanism?

“We’re interested in genuine honest dialogue on fair trade, and that’s been one of our core frustrations, in that any sort of disagreement has been taken solely as the basis of outwright criticism,” says Mr Wilson of IPA.

Supporters of fair trade like Mr Neil believe a lot of critics “tend to bring in elements of things that are true and then distort them from there… make huge leaps of logic and reasoning to conclusions that are very, very questionable. I think they are creating artificial differences.”

The free trade model assumes there are level playing fields, and Mr Neil says this simply doesn’t exist.

In response to criticisms, Oxfam’s spokesperson noted that “despite its success, it will be impossible for Fair Trade alone to provide a solution to the crisis because of the persisting imbalance between supply and demand.”

Republica’s founder believes the fair trade movement has made progression since she first began her coffee venture three years ago, but says we’ve got a long way to go. During its conception, no one knew what fair trade was or what it entailed, whereas now there is a slightly higher recognition and vague understanding of its principles.

“Possibly 85% of Australians still don’t know what fair trade is, so there is a huge, massive education process yet to be embarked upon,” she says.

The Fair Trade Association doesn’t dissuade groups from being critical. As Mr Neil says, “we agree that there are things that need to be improved, it’s a dynamic system and things are changing and evolving all the time.”

Photo: Crsfairtrade's Flickrstream

Familiarising you with (some) leaders of the world...

2008-05-06T19:57:00.019+10:00

...in an attempt to somewhat fulfil my 'international' title.

I have picked a few who have been in the headlines more recently (whether still in power or not), so enjoy the visual delights of Putin, Medvedev, Sarkozy (and of course, his wife), Mugabe, Hu and the hopefuls, Obama and H. Clinton!

Introducing, Vladimir Putin! Up until May 7 2008 (tomorrow), he has been the President of Russia for 8 years. Over the years, he has helped Russia gain economic stability. But, his term is now at an end. Do svidaniya!

And so, we come to Dmitry Medvedev, Putin's successor. Medvedev is currently a first deputy prime minister, and has known Putin personally, for over 10 years. He also had the support of Putin when running for the Presidency, and was elected in March 2008. He will start his new job tomorrow.

Next up, we have Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife, Carla Bruni. Sarkozy is the President of France, elected into office just last year, and well known for his oratory skills and charisma. He is seen to be very pro-America in terms of economic policies, or at least, more so than previous French presidents. Earlier this year, he announced his marriage to ex-model turned singer, Carla Bruni.

Yes, yes I did pick particularly amusing images. So sick of publicity shots.
More to come!

Photos: seebiz.eu, sheetudeep.com, U.S.News & World Report, Bertelsmann - undergrounds.com

Pretty Pictures: Winter Vintage

2008-05-04T16:57:00.008+10:00

Click to enlarge.

Images: Fashion Toast, Glassons, Witchery Fashions, Mollini, Frock You, Le Black Book, Net-a-Porter and Viva La Frock.

More Work and Less Play

2008-04-30T22:02:00.020+10:00

The 38 hour working week is in jeopardy for most of Australia’s workforce. Statistics from the ABS show that work is now encroaching on our private lives more than ever before. Instead of continually pushing ‘larrikinism’ as one of our defining traits, perhaps we should be framed as a nation of overworked (yet unproductive people) who are essentially slaves to our jobs and stuck in a work/eat/sleep cycle.

The statistics from the ABS report, ‘How Australians use their time', show that male and female adults in the work force are working approximately two hours more each week, than they were in 1997.

Unions NSW has recently put forward a claim for the paid working day to begin while in transit to work. Though the problem of long, unproductive commutes could be alleviated in this way, the balance between work and leisure becomes less even.

According to Dr Helen Masterman-Smith, sociology lecturer at Charles Sturt University, there is a situation of extremes: most employees are either working too many hours, or are underemployed.

“A standard full-time week (38 hours) does not apply for much of the working population today.”

She also adds that this affects all people, despite socio-economic status. “Higher paid workers are often working long hours,” says Dr Masterman-Smith. “And at the other end of the spectrum, low paid workers are struggling to strike a balance between a low hourly rate of pay and working sufficient hours to earn a decent living.”

Her statement is no truer than in the case of Nicole Gaudry, an ex-store manager of a retail giant which demanded she work for up to 48 hours each week, in and out of the store.

“I was coming home with paperwork, and not really helping my kids with their homework or spending quality time with them. I think it was actually less productive because I’d just think about how my family life was suffering and I felt that I wanted to blame work for it,” Nicole says. “By the end, I became bitter towards the work I had.”

The pressure and the time that she had to forfeit for work, eventually led her to leave the company and to search for another job where the hours allowed her to have real time away from work, making her more productive in her roles as a parent and as a professional.

Research by the Director of the Centre for Work + Life, Barbara Pockock, shows exactly this. The Centre investigates how work intersects with household, family, community and social life in Australia. What it has revealed is that we need a balance between the time spent doing work and the time we have for ourselves; otherwise health, relationships and time with children can all suffer.

Fifty Families, a report commissioned by the ACTU and co-written by Pockock, details the experiences of Frank - a man pushed beyond his limits. Forced to work 50-60 hour weeks for long periods, he was finally overwhelmed and broke down.

“I came in - and the kids were just playing …I told my wife off. Had a go at my kid and then realised I was just tearing the hair out of my head,” he states. “And it was all because I’d just had enough of it…I’d started to bring work home - mentally – for months before that.”

The sad part of the story is that despite his GP and psychiatrist warning his employer of his fragile state, it took a relapse for them to really take him seriously.

“I went into depression, and I ended up having the full-scale mental breakdown… I don’t think they know they are actually playing with people’s lives.”

In highlighting Frank’s story, however, it is important to note that different people can tolerate different workloads. Yet, current conditions are not only lowering productivity, but putting substantial mental and physical strain on workers and their families.

A national survey was taken by the Centre for Work + Life; with results further cementing the issues raised by Fifty Families. Research Fellow, Dr Pip Williams worked with Barbara Pockock on this study, and their findings showed that people who worked long hours were more likely to have poor work-life outcomes.

“Essentially, they felt pressed for time and felt that work interfered with their responsibilities and activities outside of work," says Pip. "A lack of time resources within the family can disadvantage children, their families and the wider community. Opportunities for social interaction within local communities are reduced when families are time poor.”

Clinical psychologist, Patricia Durning sees clients from the city and North Shore areas, and likens the work/life imbalance to overdrawing a bank account.

“Overloads on work lead to deficits, and when people keep on overdrawing, they go into debt. So when someone feels one hundred per cent, but puts in one hundred and ten percent, where does that extra ten per cent come from? Once a person keeps putting in more than they can handle, they can start to develop some serious mental health issues.”

There are many misconceptions which occur in the workplace to fuel the overworking of employees, as Dr Durning has encountered in her role.

“I see clients, like young lawyers, who feel a lot of pressure to work long hours because everyone is doing them," says Patricia. "There are perceptions that everyone is doing fine, and that they look like they’ve got it together, but they really don’t. As a result, people come to see me, stressed and feeling alone, and this lack of support impacts upon their mental health.”

Research Director for Unions NSW, Amanda Tattersall, says that the Industrial Relations system needs to consider the strain that an unbalanced work/life ratio has on workers.

“Work time is a serious problem that needs a total rethink in the industrial relations reforms that the Rudd Government is contemplating. Providing workers with space away from work is a vital ingredient in an industrial relations system for the 21st century.”

With pressures mounting on employees to invest more time into their work as a sign of their commitment, the focus should be on increasing productivity through balancing work and life. Until this is understood and appreciated by employers and employees alike, there will be some form of neglect both at home and at work.

Essentially, there is no quick fix to this widespread issue, but all work and no play really does make Jack a dull and unproductive boy.

Bang Bang: My Baby Shot Me Down

2008-04-29T22:29:00.010+10:00

There’s an adage for almost any situation. Swim with sting rays, you will get stung. Dance in the snow for an extensive period, you will get pneumonia. Give the mentally unstable narcissist a gun, he will shoot you.

Houston, we have a landing. Unfortunately, such logic doesn’t apply to the USA or it’s craftily manipulative National Rifle Association – no siree.

Last time I had intermittent dreams about dying, shooting, and murdering (not that I do, hypothetical here), I was under the impression that guns had the capacity to maim and disfigure. Charming in the least, I hear you say.

Yet in America, thirty-eight states have passed legislation to allow the carrying of concealed hand guns – thanks to the successful lobbying of the well funded and powerful NRA. It’s democracy that enables a Rifle Association to have political leverage in exchange for financial support to campaigns. Apparently integrity is expendable.

Several psychopathic killers have gone on shooting rampages at universities and high schools; possibly the world’s most sacred institutions, and why? Gun laws lack any stringency or arduous mechanisms to sift through instances of those who are capable of handling a gun, and those whose subsistence relies upon fulfilling a disturbed fetish to kill.

Cho Seung-Hui of the Virginia Tech massacre snapped, because his girlfriend left him. Maybe Sonny Bono would do good by changing the words of “My baby shot me down” to “My psychopathic ex-baby shot everyone down”.

Obtaining guns in perfectly legal conditions in Virginia, the screening processes were so meticulous; he had to wait an entire month to purchase a second gun. Wow, talk about putting his plans on hold. Cho’s past involved stopovers at mental institutions. I’m perplexed that a background check only measures criminal activity – nothing else that would be necessary before you bestow someone with a gun and say ‘fire like the wind’.

Gun laws need to be repaired before the American Government can truly sympathise with the families involved in such tragedies. Contrition cannot be genuine without necessary change. The political façade of condemning these killers remains to foster sympathy, yet they leave every avenue open to permit the continued destruction of peoples basic rights – even worse still supporting such legislation for financial support.

It seems civilisation is best at disintegrating every right we’ve taken an age to cultivate.

Then we had the Westroads Mall shooting in Nebraska. Robert Hawkins, the emotionally fragmented nineteen year old who deemed himself “worthless”, attempted self glorification through “taking a few pieces of shit with me”. He was fired from McDonald’s (evidently showing traces of going far in life). His girlfriend also left him two weeks prior to the aforementioned spree.

The delightful child threatened to kill his stepmother with an axe when he turned 14 and was subsequently hospitalised, yet he had the authorisation to attain a gun and shoot dead eight people in a twisted egotistical pursuit of self-validity and restorative pride. “I’m gonna be fuckin famous” reads the suicide note. This epitomises the very narcissism and resolute self-importance that we are consumed by.

Surely there are deranged psychopaths lurking at every corner. But making the means available only facilitates the issue in enabling every raging narcissist to execute their compulsions. Only a non-American can look on that country with sheer amazement as they rapidly descend the evolutionary ladder.

Have we learnt our lesson? Do not break up with a girlfriend/boyfriend if you sense their brain composition is slightly damaged through their tendencies and desire to kill and destroy. Wait no; that was the second lesson. First lesson? Don’t move to America.

Photo: Flickr - P.Retuta

The Changing Face of Anorexia

2008-04-27T15:51:00.005+10:00

At first, there’s nothing to place her apart from everyone else, except that she seems to be one of those lucky people blessed with a quick metabolism. Jealous? Not when you realise her cheeks protrude a little more than is healthy and her clothes hang baggily off her beyond-skinny frame. Her eyes are empty and her body language says, ‘I have no energy.’ And the lines etched upon her face make her look like she’s in her late 60s, or even her 70s.

Chances are, however, that she’s only in her 30s or 40s. Women like this are the new face of anorexia. A recent study of ‘weight preoccupied women’ in Canada found that “women in the 45–64 year age group were more likely to be ‘food preoccupied’ (e.g. bingeing, feeling guilty after eating, feeling ‘food controls your life’, and giving too much time and thought to food) than those aged less than 45 years.” Statistics published in [health journal] PLoS one last month reported that “people who reported purging and dieting [a]re on average 10 years older, a difference much greater than expected by population ageing,” than the average anorexic female was in 1996.

Older women typically have more stress to deal with than younger women, which could be one of the reasons why more older women are becoming anorexic. Greta Kretchner of the Eating Disorders Foundation says, “It may be divorce, it may be a sickness, a loss of a partner. It could be job stress, it could be children moving out and moving on, you know, growing up and so their role as a mum has changed - those sorts of issues – and the pressure of their own parents aging and the stress that comes with that.”

Or it could really just be the desire to lose weight that triggers the onset of anorexia. “Particularly for women that have had babies, there’s the pressure to drop baby weight very quickly. There’s a whole lot of pressure on celebrities so it’s taken as a given that people have to drop baby weight very quickly,” says Kretchner.

Dr. Patricia McVeagh, of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick, says, “Women having problems recognising their own hunger can have problems with their own children. Sometimes they might overfeed them, because the mother doesn’t want her children to follow the same route. Other times, they might limit the child’s feed, because they can’t interpret signs of fullness and take food away before the child is finished.”

“It’s also harder for them to be there for the baby, particularly if they are a compulsive exerciser.”

Kletchner says it’s important not to judge, but that those around the anorexia sufferer should “express honest concern and encourage her to seek professional help and then, if they manage to get them into professional help, supporting them in whatever way that can encourage them stay with that help.”

“I would think that apart from monitoring in a community setting, through a GP and maybe her relatives and friends, it would probably be important that her mental strength get assessed,” says a clinical nurse specialist from Westmead Hospital.

In a way, it’s sad that society makes it so simple for women to fall from being mildly self-conscious about their health and weight, to being obsessed to the point that she places “being thin” as her number one priority. In the March edition of US Elle magazine, Amanda Fortini wrote about how men preferred her when she was a stick-thin waif with a BMI (body mass index) of 16.1 (the average person’s BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9).
She wrote, “As a male friend once put it to me, semifacetiously, 'A little anorexia is hot.’”

So it’s clear that thin is in, and this makes it easier for women to slip into anorexia. Particularly older women, as they battle with middle-age waistlines and the stresses of life. And then, while losing weight may not be their initial goal, once they’re thin and anorexic, they may be shunned. How dare they become so scrawny? How dare they place so much importance on it? But they’re really only reflecting what society drums into us – that to be thin is the most important goal in life.

Photo: Istock photos

One hussy, Two hussy, Three hussy, Four.

2008-04-23T22:51:00.011+10:00

Politics, media, and the public: three entities with an often intriguing yet compromising relationship. Though what becomes of expectations when the line between public and private is indistinct? Moral judgment may not be affected, yet the principle of integrity prevails as a benchmark for tolerability, writes Bonita Silva.

Newly resigned Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, and French President, Nicolas Sarkozy with his newly wedded supermodel wife, epitomise the perplexities that riddle political careers and reputations. Should personal failings matter, and does it affect their ability to govern?

What exactly went through the mind of Eliot Spitzer – now infamously known as “Client 9”, when ordering a call girl from the International Emperors Club at a lavish rate of $4,300 – the public is still trying to ascertain.

Known as an ethical crusader, Spitzer fought corruption in the city of New York. As a former prosecutor, his knowledge of the very electronic and surveillance tools that brought about his downfall, was expansive. In 2007, he signed a law to lengthen jail time for customers of prostitutes, from three to a possible 12 months.

Spitzer prosecuted prostitution, and served to fight corruption which earned him his reputation; one that’s reflected in his grandiose labelling: “I’m a f______ steamroller, and I’ll roll over you.” His ability to execute correct political judgement was never hindered – but the public and media reserve no tolerance for counterfeit leaders.

It was the very exhibition of rank hypocrisy and disregard for the rules that facilitated his downfall. Investigators believe up to $80,000 was spent on escort services over several years preceding and following his appointment as governor.

Perhaps more condescending and ill-informed was his statement concerning Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, over a policy dispute: “[Bloomberg] is wrong at every level – dead wrong, factually wrong, legally wrong, morally wrong, ethically wrong”.

For a governor who freely dishes out accusations of moral and ethical breaches, it’s startling to see the same standards did not apply to his own personal undertakings. It’s not so much to say that personal lives should be a determinant of political success: it is however fair to conclude that the enforcer of a standard must abide by that standard to maintain any credibility or integrity in office.

The whirlwind romance of French President, ‘speedy Nicolas Sarkozy’ to ex-supermodel turned singer, Carla Bruni attracted its fair share of criticism and media coverage. Meeting 11 weeks before their marriage, and only divorcing his second wife last October, Sarkozy’s personal decisions have become the subject of ensuing media and public scrutiny.

It appears that when a politician stumbles upon increased happiness, the criticisms intensify. Divorce, marriage, and love are components of everyday life. To suggest his character, ability, and judgment are weakened, is to suggest a politician must be of an inhuman nature to successfully administer his position of power.

Some would be eager to apply similar principles to those of Eliot Spitzer. Humans are fallible, and whilst it’s important to recognise that politicians aren’t entirely pure in their personal dealings, it is the recognition of the notion that one who sets the rules must abide by them. Where personal dealings interfere or directly contradict the very core of political undertakings, their integrity is shattered, demeaning the very support invested in them by the public.

Political judgment may not be affected by their questionable personal decisions. It is however the blank hypocrisy that offends constituents in a manner that transcends all expectations, confidence, and mercy towards a falling or offending candidate.

An imperialistic attitude doesn’t stand in politics. He/she may effectively govern well, but the constituents that voted them in will just as easily bring them down.

Photo: Flickr
Licensed under: Creative Commons

The Writers

2008-04-23T21:03:00.019+10:00

STEPHANIE KOK
international editor

age/d.o.b: 19 - 26th April 1989
degree: Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) @ UTS
fav music: Rock and other random stuff - QOTSA, Queen, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Vines, Wolfmother, Michelle Branch, Tegan and Sara
fav tv shows: Extinct: Veronica Mars, Current: How I Met Your Mother
fav movies: Shawshank Redemption, Amelie, A Very Long Engagement (anything Audrey Tautou), Pride & Prejudice, Bend it Like Beckham, Life As A House
fav books: Pride & Prejudice, anything Kathy Reichs, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter, The Grenadillo Box, A Clockwork Orange
fav publications/media: SMH, Mags - Vogue, Harper's Bazaar
hobbies/interests: computer/console games, flute, shopping, reading, facebook (though more of an addiction), movies, cars, travel

ANNETTE LIN
fashion&beauty/lifestyle editor

age/d.o.b: 18 – 22nd Aug 1989
degree: b communication (journalism)/ba international studies (Spanish) @ UTS
fav music: anything house/ministry of sound, justin timberlake, the chemical brothers, fall out boy, kanye west, gabriella cilmi, soundtrack of Chicago.
fav tv show: the simpsons, family guy, south park, the chaser’s war on everything, futurama, gossip girl, so you think you can dance, thank god you’re here.
fav movie: big fish, dead poet's society, anything involving hayden christensen.
fav book: outlander series by Diana gabaldon, shopaholic series by sophie kinsella, novels by terry goodkind, harry potter
fav publication/media: Vanity Fair, US Elle, UK Glamour, Shop Til You Drop.
hobbies/interests: shopping, reading, playing organ/piano/cello, reading, making a mess in the kitchen, using speed limits as suggestions, going for long walks in the shopping centre.

BONITA SILVA
political and national editor

age/d.o.b: 18 - 4th June 1989
degree: b communication (journalism)/b laws @ the University of Technology, Sydney
fav music: muse, coldplay, the cat empire, radiohead, franz ferdinand, jeff buckley, damien rice, basement jaxx, justin timberlake, moby
fav tv show: scrubs
fav movie: the sound of music, the godfather, amelie, the count of monte cristo, the motorcycle diaries, the shawshank redemption
fav book: amadeus, to kill a mockingbird, harry potter, gone with the wind
fav publication/media: time magazine & SMH
hobbies/interests: violin, piano, drums, reading, collecting records, stalking hot imports, drinking nice coffee, craving chicken laksa, live concerts, pesto gnocchi tasting

AMY HUYNH
arts/photography editor

age/d.o.b: 19 – 5th January 1989
degree: bachelor of communication (journalism) @ the University of Technology, Sydney
fav music: five for fighting, the kooks, playradioplay!, Dashboard Confessionals, hellogoodbye, boyslikegirls, motioncity soundtrack, frou frou, Tegan and Sara, The Morning Light, This Providence
fav tv show: Grey’s anatomy, Scrubs
fav movie: Anne of Green Gables, Amelie
fav book: Pride and Prejudice, Unexpected, Syrup, and I would have to say the Twilight Saga
fav publication/media: Frankie, Cream and Yen magazine
hobbies/interests: I’m in love with fictional men: Mr. Darcy (of course), Edward Cullen, Laurie/Teddy, Severus Snape, Colonal Brandon, Angel (Tess of the D’Urbervilles), and totally infatuated with Christian Bale! Okay, now that we have the male interests out of the way, I’m also: photography obsessed, loves to pick up a pencil now and then to draw random things, plays tunes on the piano, rollerblades like a 6year old (no actually they’re probably better), photoshops photos out of reality, and likes to avoid strangers on public transport by wearing earphones and big sunnies.