hello, this is my niece…sorry, i mean my wife
Again, another hiatus for similar reasons! I’ve been busy with other writing assignments and related matters, so check out my latest piece for Ethical Living on Bolivia’s new law that enshrines the rights of the environment. It’s a very interesting legal concept http://www.ethicalliving.com.au/2011/08/protecting-the-rights-of-mother-nature/ . I’d also recommend doing some research of your own on the topic if you’ve got time. There’s some fascinating information out there.
But here I want to say something about same sex marriage. The debate has received enough attention over the last few weeks without me adding to it in any major way, but this I couldn’t resist. last night as my fiance and I met with our wedding celebrant for the first time, another strange element of the marriage institution in Australia caught my attention.
After we’d discussed our ideas for the ceremony we turned to the legal formalities which included filing a notice of intention to marry. The first question on the back page was “are you related?” We started laughing and joking about it with our celebrant who reminded us that in Australia, you can marry certain types of relatives. The only restriction is that they can’t be an ancestor, descendant, brother or sister (strangely enough this includes step siblings). So let’s get this straight – in Australia you can marry your aunt, uncle, cousin, niece or nephew, but you can’t marry a partner of the same sex or a step sibling to whom you’re not even related except by law? To me that is some serious whacked logic if you can call it logic at all…
let’s go surfing!
I’ve recently started writing for a surf website called mesurf. I’m excited about this because I love surfing and also want to expand my sports writing practice. After writing my first two articles, I’ve come to understand just how unique sports writing is. Each sport has it’s lingo that you have to be down with and in this case, with such a male centered audience, you have to write ‘for men!’ I can’t put my finger on what it is that makes an article ‘written for a man,’ but you’ll get the feeling it when you read something on this site. My first piece was a preview for the J-Bay event in South Africa http://www.mesurf.com.au/MagazineDetail.aspx?id=2386&name=billabong-pro-jeffreys-bay-2011—preview
My next piece will be up on the site in a week or two. Watch this space!
denial – not just a river in africa
Yesterday I came across this article which I found very interesting. It makes a connection between national debt and culture in the US. I wish the article was longer. Please check it out:
sometimes you just have to let it be
Recently, the Hard Rock Café in Buenos Aries ran an ad campaign with the slogan “there’s a story behind every song”. They created 3 graphic novel-type (I’ll call them ‘graphic’) images depicting Bob Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’, the Beatles’ ‘Let it Be’, and Eric Clapton’s ‘Tears in Heaven‘.
The first two didn’t create much of a stir amongst media types. The third, however, was labelled by news outlets across the Americas as ‘tasteless’ and ‘insensitive’, because the images depict Clapton’s depression following the tragic death of his young son, culminating in the creation of Tears in Heaven.
I think I understand the idea behind the campaign, but I can also see how it could be viewed as tasteless, or at least unappealing. When I first looked at the posters, I felt that the graphic images were not conveying the sentiment (I think) the Hard Rock Café were trying to express; namely that songs are the product of emotional experiences. To illustrate this they chose three songs, all which happen to be motivated by sadness or melancholy. It got me wondering what was stopping the sentiment and the images from connecting in my head, and I came up with a few ideas.
Firstly, I thought that maybe the even, strong lines in the graphic images don’t accurately reflect the song writing process, which is often non-linear and disordered, especially when the process is serving a cathartic purpose, as it was (according to Clapton interviews) with Tears in Heaven. Secondly, even though the graphics aren’t funny, these types of images are most commonly associated with comic strips, i.e. comedy, and this is a subconscious association that I’m making. After discussing it with some friends, most of them thought that the comedy link was the most likely explanation. Initially I agreed, and figured that because I don’t read graphic novels on serious topics, I am someone who makes a connection between comedy and graphic art. This prompted me to call on another friend who is an art teacher. She made the interesting point that because graphic art isn’t taken ‘seriously’ as art by most people, the Hard Rock Café doesn’t have the intention or ability to challenging common perceptions of an artistic style. Artists such as Lichtenstein played around with this in the 1960s; however, as an artist he was critiquing an aspect of society, and part of that process involved recontextualising the style in art galleries. As an ephemeral ad campaign, it is unlikely that the intentions would involve challenging social perceptions – it is far more likely that they were trying to play with those perceptions to generate revenue, like any other ad campaign. So perhaps the unease wasn’t felt because the material was offensive; rather, it was a result of the confusion created by the disjuncture of the sad message and the graphic art.
For what it’s worth, I don’t like the posters. I’m not offended by them, I just don’t find them appealing. Maybe it’s for one of the reasons mentioned above. Or maybe I just don’t like the colours!
did I really wear that?
Sorry for my hiatus; I have been working on my latest article for the online magazine Ethical Living. Please have a read at http://www.ethicalliving.com.au/2011/06/can-the-south-african-legal-system-fight-corrective-rape/
This afternoon I was chatting with a friend I’ve had since primary school. Recently, one of our former classmates uploaded a picture of us from Grade 2, circa 1991, on to Facebook. We were small, and our hair was perfectly coiffed in anticipation of the all-important school photo. We were both looking at this picture and laughing; at our hair, how small we were, our expressions, and our uniforms. It got me thinking – just the other day I was talking to my sister about the 1980s, and we both came to the conclusion that almost no one looked good during that decade. Yet, despite the criticism, she was recounting those days as some of her dearest.
Why is it that we look the past with a strong sense of humour? We laugh at the hair, the clothes, and the poses we pulled, all of which we no doubt considered hip and cool at the time. So when we laugh heartily, it is almost like there is some disconnection with our former selves. Are we laughing at the products of the day, i.e. the bad hair and clothes, or the naivety we showed in copying trends that are quite clearly considered hideous by today’s standards.
I’m genuinely unsure, this is a question that intrigues me…
it’s good to know the census bureau wouldn’t ask questions like that
Things like this make me laugh so hard! I wish I had been in Germany two weeks ago, so I could have received the 2011 census. Or one of them at least. Coinciding with the release of the real census, some funny soul decided to distribute an identical document with his/her own set of questions relating to illicit drug consumption and penis size. A more detailed article can be viewed here:
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20110511-34951.html
One of the questions was “which drugs do you take?” with options including LSD or cannabis and another was “have you ever undertaken a breast or penis enlargement procedure?”! Reassuringly, census project manager Klaus Voy confirmed that “[the] questions were all entirely fictitious, we wouldn’t ask anything like that.” Phew! A creative, and no doubt effective (although expensive) way of getting a point across. In recent times the German census has faced criticism for delving too far into personal areas such as immigration and religion, which go beyond the EU requirements.
i always hang pictures on nails, therefore all pictures hang on nails
Last month a woman was beaten to death in her home. The obvious criminal element gave the story inherent newsworthiness and was reported on by both major news outlets in Victoria, complete with ‘breaking news’ updates as tid bits of information became available. For a serious crime story the facts were unremarkable – a neighbour reported hearing screams coming from the house the night before. Beyond that, not much was known about the incident.
What really struck me was the last line of an article in the Age (“Arrest over Dromana Killing”The Age, April 27th 2011) which stood in isolation from the rest of the article. It read:
“Local police had been called to the address on previous occasions”.
And?? Once again, the common media trick of not inviting, but demanding, that the reader speculate consciously or otherwise on a situation that is not aided in any way by speculation. On its own the sentence has no relevant meaning. Try reading it without finding even the tiniest thought cloud of judgement floating by, on its way to your subconscious for safe keeping. It’s hard! And what useful purpose does it serve? It doesn’t reveal any facts or help anyone understand the situation. I think most people would struggle to mount a public interest argument in this instance.
Just to make sure this wasn’t a one off, I looked at a Herald Sun story on the same case, “Homicide police probe discovery of woman’s body” Herald Sun, April 27th 2011. Towards the end of the article it read:
“Sen Sgt Iddles said the victim was not known to police criminally but that they had attended her home over domestic matters”.
So this one is slightly better – at least it qualifies how the victim was known to police. But if she wasn’t known criminally, why raise criminality at all? Again, the sentence asks the reader to fill in the gaps with little to no information.
This style of reporting is popular with many journalists and editors, especially in crime reporting. I’ve often wondered why this is and sadly the most credible reason I can think of is that it adds to the drama of the story. It helps give the reader that sense of “oooh”, similar to how you feel when Law & Order SVU’s detective Stabler reveals that he has cracked the case just before an ad break, except this is someone’s real life. It contributes to the entertainment value of the article and thus the saleability of the paper. Realistically, people don’t want to read stories that are laden with pure fact. If they did, they wouldn’t be stories; they’d be ‘fact lists’. This is why journalists are always looking for ‘angles’ on stories and why there can be so many stories written on one incident or topic.
I’m not criticising stories having an angle – no one wants to read a fact list. However, it is important that the combination of facts and ‘angle’ is well balanced and this can be and is often done, without supporting inductive reasoning where few facts are known. The reason I believe this is important is because media consumption is on the rise and many people are naturally attracted to crime stories. In fact I would go so far as to suggest that society is fascinated by crime (look at all the crime based shows on TV!). As media consumption increases, so does exposure to this style of writing that encourages baseless reasoning. I don’t think it is good for anyone to train their mind in this style of thinking, even if information is available. If information is available, it is unnecessary to reason inductively. And where does one draw the line on the amount of information needed to draw a conclusion? A very slippery slope indeed.
what a croc!
Periodically, I read the NT News online. Ever since I stumbled across a story in the breaking news section of their website about a man who bought a packet of Burger Rings and opened it only to find a solitary Burger Ring, I seem to have become quite interested in the goings on of the Territory – or at least what’s happening in the NT News.
As I was reading yesterday, I came across three articles featuring crocodiles. It suddenly dawned on me – every time I look at this site there’s at least one story about a crocodile. So I decided to have a quick look in the archives and discovered that over the last six weeks, the NT News has averaged six stories per week on crocodiles. Six! And that doesn’t include the stories on other critters like spiders and snakes! I can’t think of another topic that is so regularly covered in any newspaper or general media offering (excluding seasonal sports reporting). You might think that most of the stories deal with crocodile attacks, but that’s not the case. Of course they make up a percentage of the stories but they are interspersed with tales of crocs breaking their teeth, getting stuck in the mud, actors dodging crocs on film sets, crocs being found in backyard swimming pools, a croc surviving gunshot wounds and a croc turning up on a sports oval. Who knew that crocodiles could be involved in so many different scenarios?! Although I think my favourite story was the one about the croc-inspired gifts from the Territory to newly weds Catherine and William (http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/04/22/226951_ntnews.html). Happy reading!
daydream believer
For the last two weeks, I have been house and dog sitting for my parents inMelbourne. Last Thursday night I had nothing planned and found myself sitting at home by myself, just me and the dog.
It was quite relaxing since I now spend most of my week nights catching up with friends – my fiancé recently moved to the country for work meaning my time is now divided between the two locations. So as I sat down to enjoy this time of what I thought was going to be solitude, my phone beeped. I picked it up and saw that a friend had sent me a facebook message. This friend is overseas and has been for a few months, so I was rather keen to see how she was. Before I knew it we’d spent nearly an hour discussing things related to ourselves, the world and other mutual acquaintances. Then after we signed off a strange thing happened. As if on autopilot, I started browsing various news services, seeking reports on the nuclear and humanitarian crisis in Japan, Gaddafi’s latest plans for his civilians, protests in Egypt, Ricky Nixon and any other pieces of ‘information’ I could get my metaphorical hands on. These issues have nothing to do with me, but, for some unknown reason almost daily I feel the need to trawl the web for facts and figures about events that are happening ‘out there.’ Before long, I had spent 2 hours chatting and reading about things that were happening on the other side of the globe.
So in this gizmo obsessed era, how often are we really alone with our thoughts? When we are physically alone, how much of that time is spent interacting with a device that is delivering information into what was once our private space? The more time we spend cramming information into our brains, the less time we have to think creatively and stretch the right side of our brains for a while. According to the New York Times, researchers have found that wandering thoughts can be critical in people’s lives.
“But now researchers have been analyzing those stray thoughts, they’ve found daydreaming to be remarkably common – and often quite useful. A wandering mind can…keep you on course toward long-term goals. Sometimes daydreaming is counterproductive, but sometimes it fosters creativity and helps you solve problems.” (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/science/29tier.html?_r=1)
For me this is great news. I adore daydreaming, but am acutely aware that I don’t do it as often as I used to which got me thinking about the substance of my present day musings. Have we lost the ability to be alone inside our heads? Do we even use the time as we once did? I think the shower is perhaps one of the last bastions of the stray thought or daydream. So to everyone out there, I would like you to share something – what was the last stray or illogical thought you had, and did you indulge it or leave it behind for the company of an electronic device?
soul destroying
Body + Soul. What an attractive name for a newspaper lift out, conjuring images of serenity and wellbeing. It sounds like something I would enjoy reading – I’m interested in my body and my soul, so based on first impressions I’m a prime target for this lift out. Yet strangely enough, I don’t think there is another single journalistic endeavour that annoys me more than Body + Soul (or BS for short), found every week in the Sunday Herald Sun. Here is a picture of an old issue. Recognise it?
BS is the perfect encapsulation of the mixed messages that are sent by the mass media on the topic of body image. Looking at the front page, BS promises to give you what you are expecting (based on the title) – information on your body and/or your soul. Articles like “Long & Lean: Improve your posture with a balance workout” and “I look better in my 40s than I did in my 20s” would understandably give anyone a positive feeling about opening this lift out and may even give them a momentary boost. So I turn the page and see more promising stories like “The heart healthy diet” and “Tai Chi helps reduce depression in the elderly.” Yes, this lift out is definitely going to be useful. Until I turn the page again only to be confronted with advertisements for ‘Elixia: high performing anti-ageing skin care’ and ‘Freezeframe: the number one selling instant botox alternative.’ What?! Do those women only look better at 40 because they used a botox alternatives and anti-ageing creams?! I’m confused. Maybe they were the only ones…NO! The next page is also covered with advertisements, this time for “Resveratrol AdvantAGE” which reduces the appearance of wrinkles by pumping collagen and elastin into your body, then on the next page is ‘PrevageEYE’ which will give you younger looking skin (presumably around the eyes given the emphasis on EYE). As an aside, I wonder who comes up with these names because I’m having trouble pronouncing them; surely not good for building brand awareness. But anyway…
As I continue, I find advertisements for organic botox alternatives, something that is “just like botox for your hair”; ultrasonic cellulite removal treatments; another wrinkle treatment using stem cells (controversial); ‘nude by nature’ which gives you the appearance of being airbrushed; ‘Infusion RX’ wrinkle treatment that refers to CSI in the text; a multi-peptide breakthrough technology that reduces dark circles, smooths puffy eye bags, diminishes crows feet and reduces the signs of ageing; a tablet called ‘fluid away’; teeth whitening products and cosmetic dentistry; Liposuction Australia, and finally, the Cosmetic Surgery & Vein Centre.
After reading all that I am exhausted. And irritated. I haven’t learnt one thing about my body. I’ve just been invited to think that the effect of time on my body is a bad thing and that I have to do everything within my powers and budget to slow down the ageing process so that I don’t, heaven forbid, look ‘old.’
If this appeared in a magazine such as “Image” or “Professional Beauty” I wouldn’t care. People buying such magazines know what is inside them and they don’t pretend to offer something that they do not. But this lift out portrays a very different image – the title and articles are crafted to make people feel good, yet they are smothered with toxic ads for products that are only needed when the appearance of your body is considered less than PERFECT in some way. Beauty is a multi billion dollar industry and if we were all feeling good about ourselves all the time, it wouldn’t exist or would at least be severely diminished. There are so many things to be said on this topic that I’m sure someone could write a PhD on it, but this is just a blog. However, I think I feel a full length article coming on very soon.
