No Artistic Merit

Happy Bloody New Year, so it is

2009-01-10T10:09:00.005+10:00

Still alive, just.

Australia Zoo pics to follow.

For now, click here to see them on facebook.

Socratic Dialectic

2008-10-10T13:09:00.003+10:00

What is the aim of the Socratic dialectic? What method does it use to reach this aim?

The Socratic dialectic method (also known as the method of elenchus) encourages and involves the exploration of implications of conversational positions in order to promote and foster rational thought process/approach to the investigation of ethical concepts (Macquarie, 2008). Socratic dialectic method takes the form of a conversation in which a rigorous inquiry is conducted in order to investigate interlocutors’ claims to knowledge. Initial questioning probes enough to find out what the interlocutor’s pre-existing notions are. Further questioning reveals inconsistencies to the interlocutor. Some critics consider the applications of dialectic inquiry to be mostly negative, i.e. chiefly for the purposes of refutation; however the importance of critical reflection highlighted by the method and the desire to investigate which it instils in people cannot be underestimated, and arguably supersedes these concerns.

In the first part of the Socratic dialectic method --the analysis-- primary questioning identifies assumptions implied in the interlocutor’s personal beliefs about a given topic, by searching thoroughly for the commonly held assumptions and unchecked tacitly accepted facts that have the potential to influence one’s opinion on the subject. This interrogation to identify assumption and bias is vital as reasons justifying a position must be considered rationally (Macquarie, 2008); irrespective of tendencies towards traditional thinking, any urge to follow current thinking trends, or allow any conflict of interest to affect one’s responses.

Then the second part of the method is utilised, the synthesis (Macquarie, 2008). Synthesis is the process by which the dialectic questioner distils the interlocutor’s answers and compares the information therein to that gathered by the first definition put forward by the interlocutor, in order to expose inconsistencies, and --as much as possible-- leave no errors undetected. In the Socratic dialogues, further questioning often leads the interlocutor to put forward a position completely opposite to that which they started with, often leading to a confused and perplexed state known as aporia (Vasilis, 2006).

It is consistently found by Socrates that those with claims to knowledge and expertise lack the true wisdom that --according to Socrates-- the only path to true wisdom is by accepting that one knows nothing, since only the gods can possibly know the purpose of all things (Macquarie, 2008), their reason for being. It is also found that, while Socrates’ intentions are not to dictate one particular definition of virtue --i.e. the intended outcome isn’t necessarily simply to refute a point of view-- his inquiries are all conducted with the goal of attaining moral wisdom, self knowledge; exhorting that we should question even our most comfortable preconceived notions and beliefs in order to work towards achieving a state of ataraxia, thus freeing us to live the good life whilst continuing to inquire and examine. Those who pursue evil do so because they lack this self knowledge, according to Socrates, who believed that no-one commits evil intentionally (Macquarie University, 2008), and that gaining an awareness of self moves one closer to the aforementioned “good life”.

The Socratic dialectic method appears – on the face of it— to be for the most part a negative and one-sided method in its use in refuting false claims to knowledge, particularly as there appears to be no occasion in the dialogues in which Socrates is forced to change his mind instead. However, despite these criticisms, one can see that in convincing the interlocutor that he/she in fact knows nothing, Socrates has helped them to uncover errors in their own thinking where previously their assumptions would have led them to believe they were correct. As Socrates believed that since the truly wise consider themselves to “know only that they know nothing”, the only requirement for answering the dialectic questioning is pure common sense—no special knowledge or skills are needed in order to pursue a logical argument (Macquarie, 2008). So, ultimately, the Socratic dialectic method is a worthwhile action in the pursuit of truth, with the goal of increasing self-understanding. Socrates, as evidenced in the Apology (Tredennick, trans. 1969), considered this act to be his duty, asserting that a “life without examination is not worth living”.

References:

Tredennick, H. (1969) "The Apology of Socrates" (Plato) in The Last Days of Socrates p45-76

Macquarie University (2008) Phi130. Study notes weeks 2-4

Vasilis P. (2006). "Aporia and Searching in the Early Plato" in L. Judson and V. Karasmanis eds. Remembering Socrates. Oxford University Press.

-- copyright LHT 2008--

Sea World - Gold Coast

2008-10-09T13:59:00.003+10:00

Excellent trip to Sea World.
Took loads of photos, will upload soon.

Afterwards we paid my inlaws a visit in Tugun and then spent what felt like 8 hours driving back to Brisbane.

More soon.

Supergrass @ The Tivoli, Brisbane

2008-10-03T00:22:00.003+10:00

Fantastic Gig! nearly died in the pit but it was worth the crushed spine!

More soon.

Coming up for air

2008-09-15T16:21:00.005+10:00

I apologise in advance for any nonsensical errata in this post, my only excuse is that I'm frazzled, been working on getting the visa stuff together and its driving me crazy having to get it all signed and witnessed and stuff... especially whilst studying 4 units at once.

I'm doing well at uni so far, I'm going to take a break halfway through my degree though (12 out of 24 units), it's knackering. It's rare that I get a chance to come up for air these days.

For English we're studying Chaucer's duchess tale (arrrrrrrgh!) and Shakespeare's troilus & cressida (one of the problem plays....damn) and sleepy hollow which i'm really looking forward to(we have to incorporate the film adaptation into our analysis so it gives me an excuse to watch johnny depp again hehe).

For history we're studying ancient mythology, with some sociology mixed in (as it informs much of mythology, it seems). The classical mythology book is thicker than a whale omelette! (see blackadder 3)

For philosophy we're studying metaphysics, ancient and modern. ancient, we're studying Aristotle, Plato,Socrates(well, through Xenophon and Plato) etc. modern, we're studying Sartre and Heidegger and Russell (Bertrand Russell kicks arse!)

For politics we're studying international politics (having studied Australian politics last term) and there is a definite U.S bias.... I was pissed off that I had to pay 100 dollars for a biased piece of shit book but hey ho nobody says you have to agree with the readings, and if you support your criticisms with damning evidence then you get more marks than if you accepted it blindly and unquestioningly and didn't back up your position. I keep getting high distinctions for my discussion posts so either I'm doing something right or my tutors have incredibly low expectations of their students... Hrrm, I'll leave that topic there.

On a more positive note, I'm getting closer to my in laws and making more Australian friends through uni and mutual friends. Also, Elliot is coming over for Xmas, and me and Greg have invited all the family (including extended family and friends) over to our place for Xmas for the first time (its usually us that goes down the coast to visit them) so that should be nice.

Music, film prevent me from going crazy, and I try to keep doing my own creative stuff too (guitar, writing, graphic design, photography, jewellery) or I'd burst with stress. I use my lighting equipment and techniques I've learned for my photos now so my lighting background has come in useful after all.

I recently taught myself to knit and crochet (or I should say, retaught, I used to know when i was little but forgot most of it) and use the sewing machine to do little repairs mostly, though when i get more confident I'll try making clothes.

I'm considering starting my own secondhand bookshop, on eBay first and then if it gets popular enough I'll set up a personal website and then who knows, maybe even make enough to justify getting my own premises down the line...
It'd be a way to combine my passion for books and creative design abilities (such as they are :-s) with my research skills and photography skills....but, alas, i know nothing about business and I know its essential for me to learn about that stuff, so with a heavy heart I have promised myself to do at least a short course in business studies, either that or I'll befriend a business savvy person and 'pump them for answers'...as it were.

I'm seeing Supergrass in October and I cant wait, it's been so long!

For relieving tension, I read an interesting book when I can, and listen to music, but I also recommend making a pizza, as there's nothing like personifying dough as you're pummelling it. My current source of antagonism is Uwe Boll so it is a pleasure to punch him in the face.

Apologies for the length of this post, I lack the time to make it shorter.

Laura

What is Insider Anti-Elitism, and how has this discourse and practice influenced political debate in Australia since 1996?

2008-08-19T20:24:00.003+10:00

“Insider Anti-elitism”, a term related to populism, was coined to describe an opposition to the university educated intellectual elites (Sawer, 2004) by those in a position of power and wealth who-- in their refusal to be browbeaten by the so-called ‘politically correct‘ left-wing academics, activists and journalists-- actively foster distrust and suspicion of said elites in order to gain political advantage. Insider Anti-Elitism is so entrenched in Australian political discourse that it will persist for many years to come.

Populism cultivates and encourages suspicion of intellectuals and public institutions such as universities. Proponents of populist politics often justify their position by claiming said intellectuals to be “contemptuous of the values of ordinary people and of the national interest”(Sawer, 2004) and this claim is central to the populist strategies (Sawer, 2005).

Right-wing populism provides the core to New Right policies in Australia from 1996 onwards. Whilst its usage and effects are not exclusive to conservatism, it is primarily the domain of right-leaning parties, such as the One Nation party, and the Liberal Party, who widened their traditional support base (Ward, 2007) in an attempt to appeal to the common man, in order to win votes and cultivate long-term grass-roots support.

Though Anti-Elitism is by no means limited to the political right –for example, the Labor Party’s Mark Latham urged the party to free itself of the grip of the new class elites and “get back to the suburbs”(Sawer, 2004)—it is clear that the staunchly social conservative philosophy of the majority of the modern Liberal party supports the view that the right has “a natural advantage on the discursive terrain prepared by neo-conservatives”(Sawer, 2004).

The Liberal party’s ‘ageing and declining membership’ (Ward, 2007 p146) is likely to be the reason behind their widening of traditional support base (from businessmen and farmers) in order to appeal to the common man, who was considered to have previously been more inclined to vote Labor. Not only did the Liberal party claim to support the ‘aussie battlers’, but --akin to the tactics of many talk radio DJ’s with similar modus operandi-- presented themselves in a manner that implied that, in a way, they were battlers too: 'Is there anything in contemporary Australian life more outrageous than the sight of the most powerful figures of Australian conservatism cloaking their well-nourished frames in the rags of the powerless?' (Keating, 2001).

The populist discourse portrays the elites as condescending, and “untrustworthy and parasitic” in stark contrast to the “virtuous and long-suffering people”(Sawer, 2005). Johnson (2004) asserts that Anti-Elitism is “contradictory and open to challenge”. Paul Keating succinctly conveyed the hypocrisy of modern conservatism in his speech at the election campaign launch on February 14, 1996, when he attacked the Liberal party’s philosophy, which “preaches the values of families and communities, while conducting a direct assault on them through reduced wages and conditions and job security”.

The political right often uses the anti-elitist ploy in an attempt to woo the working class and win votes. The common procedure is to claim to speak for the common man, deride the authenticity of the ethics espoused by the so-called ‘bleeding hearts’, and cast aspersions as to the motives of those who hold opinions and concerns which differ from those of the typical ‘man in the street’. These tactics often work very well. Carole Johnson (Associate professor of Politics at the University of Adelaide) asserts that John Howard had “argued that the Keating Government favoured politically correct, elite, special interests over those of "mainstream" Australians”. Bulbeck, (2005) also speaking from a female academic perspective, recalls Johnson’s words, saying “it is ‘a very strange Australia’ when Pauline Hanson can claim that ‘the most downtrodden person in the country is the white Anglo-Saxon male’ [and] the Prime Minister can depict himself as ‘the victim of elite opinion”.

Any concerns over civil liberties, human rights and equal opportunity are dismissed as simply stemming from an elite agenda (Sawer, 2004). For example, anyone actively concerned with multiculturalism and minority rights were considered to be the ‘Moral middle class’, expressing such views not for altruistic reasons, but that they pursued such causes merely in order to further their own career, feather their own nests, and acquire higher incomes.

Anti-elitism is fuelled by widespread resentment towards ‘intellectuals’ who –rightly or wrongly—“consider themselves to be superior” (Bulbeck, 2004), and the perceived tendency of these elites to harangue “Ordinary Australians” on various ‘hot topics’, such as multiculturalism and environmental issues (Bulbeck, 2004). Sawer (2004) also states that: “To raise issues of public standards and public values is to be accused of trying to demonstrate superiority over ordinary Australians” So, in this regard, anti-elitist populism is reminiscent of ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ -- a term used to describe a levelling social attitude prevalent in several western countries -- in its attacks on what it considers to be the intellectual elites, drawing attention away from business elites (Sawer, 2004) who would stand to lose money if taxes were increased in order to subsidise the arts, education, and the welfare state. In light of this, this quote by Liberal Party’s John Howard in 1996 appears quite hypocritical: "If there’s one thing we need to get rid of in this country it is our tall poppy syndrome”.

It is believed by some (Bowring, 2007) that Anti-Elitism is on the wane. One could consider this view to be somewhat justified by some of the events of the past ten years. Notably the decline of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party and indeed the Liberal party’s defeat at the last election suggest that the populist rhetoric is not enough to sustain grass-roots loyalty in light of changing attitudes. Also, I concur with the view that the public is becoming increasingly aware of the fact that such mistrust of those considered to be ‘elites’ is often hypocritical. This is especially true in this case, as the proponents are themselves part of the elite-- and the public are waking up to the fact that anti-elitist rhetoric intentionally masks the true source of injustices, which are allowed to perpetuate by those reluctant to appear supportive of the welfare state and other contentious social issues.

However, I believe that in future, Anti-Elitism will still be a prevalent force in political discourse and practice, as it appears very much ingrained into the attitudes of Australia’s society. It is very politically lucrative for governments-- it certainly served the Liberal Party’s needs in order to ‘divide and rule’. In support of this view, Bulbeck (2005) cites “Australia’s long history of anti-intellectualism, the dark underbelly of mateship and egalitarianism” as a source from which Anti-Elitism is derived. Sparrow (2008) maintains that: “There remains a huge social base for a revival of the Right’s popular ‘Anti-Elitism’. It is certain that growing cynicism, resentment, and voter apathy, not to mention the increased blurring of edges between the philosophies of political parties --and the camouflaging of their true intent-- will continue to provide plenty of opportunities for people in positions of power to use populist rhetoric in order to exploit the anti-elitist sentiment for political and financial advantage.

References

Bowring, P. 2007. “Tall Poppies Flourish Down Under”. International Herald Tribune, Feb 26.
URL: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/26/opinion/edbowring.php (Accessed July 25th, 2008)

Bulbeck, C. 2005. “Speaking Truth to Power: Why Won't They Listen?”
TASA Conference Plenary Session – Professional Issues
Hobart 5-8 December 2005
URL: http://www.tasa.org.au/docs/TASAPlenaryChill%20Bulbeck.doc (Accessed July 25th, 2008)

Heywood, A. (2003) “Liberalism” in Political Ideologies: An Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 25-68.

Johnson, Carole (2004). “Anti-elitist discourse in Australia: International influences and comparisons”, pp. 117-136 in Marian Sawer and Barry Hindess (eds) “Us and Them: Anti-Elitism in Australia”. Perth: API Network

Keating, P. (1996) Election campaign launch. February 14th 1996.

Keating, P. (2001) The Australian. April 2001.

Sawer, M. (2004) Australian Financial Review.
URL: http://polsc.anu.edu.au/Power_of_Us_and_Them1.htm (Accessed July 25th 2008)

Sawer, M. (2005) “How Mr Fat became Ms Bleeding Heart: Market Populism and the Future of the University.” The Journal for the Public University, Volume 2: 2005
URL: http://www.publicuni.org/jrnl/volume/2/journal_2_fat.html (accessed July 25th 2008)

Sawer, M & Barry Hindess (eds), (2004) “Us and Them: Anti-Elitism in Australia”, Bentley, API Network

Sparrow, Jeff. (2008). “Fancy dancers rule in Rudd's summit of the elites.” URL: http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20080407-Rudds-unashamedly-elitist-2020-Summit.html (Accessed July 25th 2008)

Ward, Ian. Randall G. Stewart. (2007) Politics One. 3rd ed. Palgrave. Australia.

-- copyright LHT 2008--

Study Period 3 2008

2008-08-18T19:59:00.000+10:00

Starting 1st September.

PLT120 - Introduction to Global Politics
PHI130 - Mind, Meaning, and Metaphysics
ENG110 - Introduction to English Literature
HST140 - The Making of Australia

This week, I have been mostly listening to: David Bowie

2008-08-02T17:56:00.004+10:00

I recommend the best of David Bowie double cd, it is excellent:

*Particular favourites

CD1

01 - Space Oddity
02 - Changes
03 - Starman*
04 - Ziggy Stardust
05 - Suffragette City
06 - John, I'm Only Dancing
07 - The Jean Genie
08 - Drive in Saturday
09 - Life on Mars*
10 - Sorrow
11 - Rebel Rebel*
12 - Rock & Roll Suicide
13 - Diamond Dogs
14 - Knock on Wood
15 - Young Americans*
16 - Fame
17 - Golden Years*
18 - TVC 15*
19 - Sound & Vision*

CD2

01 - Heroes*
02 - Beauty & the beast*
03 - Boys keep swinging*
04 - D.J.*
05 - Alabama song
06 - Ashes to ashes*
07 - Fashion
08 - Scary monsters (and super creeps)*
09 - Under pressure (with Queen)*
10 - Wild is the wind*
11 - Let's dance*
12 - China girl
13 - Modern love
14 - Blue jean
15 - This is not America (with Pat Metheny)
16 - Dancing in the street (with Mick Jagger)
17 - Absolute beginners
18 - Day in day out

Huzzar

2008-08-02T11:10:00.002+10:00

My favourite band, Supergrass, who recently toured the U.S. with the Foo Fighters, are coming to Brisbane on 2nd October. Excellent opportunity to take a break from studying! Haven't seen them live in so long....expect photos.

http://www.strangeones.co.uk/tour/index.htm

Photography trip - Gympie - 5

2008-07-30T13:15:00.001+10:00

More to come.

Previous parts:

Photography trip - Gympie - 1

Photography trip - Gympie - 2

Photography trip - Gympie - 3

Photography trip - Gympie - 4

2008-07-29T06:55:00.000+10:00

Photography trip - Gympie - 5

Photography trip - Gympie - 1

Photography trip - Gympie - 2

Photography trip - Gympie - 3

Photography trip - Gympie 3

2008-07-28T19:49:00.008+10:00

Photography trip - Gympie - 4

Photography trip - Gympie - 1

Photography trip - Gympie - 2

Creatively Bereft

2008-07-26T16:25:00.000+10:00

Currently having trouble expressing myself creatively.

I am Studying alone. I have a Uni-mode On/Off button over which it seems I have little control-- Practically the only things I write now are essays and notes for upcoming essays. My guitar, pencils, charcoals and jewellery-making tools lie gathering dust. My camera rarely sees daylight any more -- the recent photography trip was a total bust -- and I'm feeling despondent.

I try to incorporate a mixture of creative and functional activities into my day, in order to provide the requisite variety that I know I need to keep sane and reasonably sanguine. However, the reasons for doing so seem to appear less convincing as I get older and stupider and more depressed... It all begins to look like I'm devising more elaborate ways of distracting myself.

I often get prolonged blank moments that worry me and general thoughtlessness for which I chastise myself, perhaps pointlessly. I also find myself withdrawing from life in general.

You know, when I started this post I was pretty sure it was going to go somewhere... once I'd worked up some steam perhaps...seems all I can muster today are self-absorbed maudlin ramblings. Perhaps tomorrow lightning will strike my poor addled brain.

This Week I have been mostly Listening to: Classical Music

2008-07-26T04:13:00.001+10:00

Albinoni - Adagio
Anonymous - romance for guitar jeux interdits
Bach - Air On The G-String From Suite No.13 in D Major
Bach - Prelude and Fugue in D minor, BWV554
Bach - Minuet and Badinerie (from Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor)
Bach - Toccata in D minor
Barber - Adagio
Beethoven - Minuet in G
Beethoven - 'Moonlight' Sonata
Beethoven - piano concerto no. 1 in c major op. 15 2 largo
Beethoven - Fur Elise
Bizet - Entr'acte To Act III (Carmen)
Boccherini - Minuet
Boccherini - quintet no. 7 in e minor for guitar and strings g 451 4 allegretto
Borodin - Nocturne
Bruch - Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor Op.26
Chopin - waltzes op. 69 nr. 9 in a flat major op. 69 1 valse de la dieu
Dallabaco - concerto dachiesa op.2 no. 4 1 aria allegro moderato
Debussy - Clair De Lune
Debussy - Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir
Debussy - Preludes, Des pas sur la neige
Delibes - Flower Duet (Lakmé)
Delibes - Pizzicati From The Ballet Sylvia
Dvorak - String Serenade in E major Op.22, Moderato
Elgar - Nimrod
Faure - Pavane
Gershwin - Summertime
Gounod - Faust (margarethe)-ballet music 5 moderato con moto
Grieg - Peer Gynt - suite no. 1 op. 46 morning
Handel - Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (from 'Solomon')
Handel - Concerto grosso in A minor op. 6 No. 4
Holst - Mars, the Bringer of War - New York Philharmonic
Holst - Venus, the Bringer of Peace - NYP
Holst - Mercury, the Winged Messenger - NYP
Holst - Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity - NYP
Holst - Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age - NYP
Holst - Uranus, the Magician - NYP
Holst - Neptune, the Mystic - NYP
Listz - Lieberstraum No. 3 in A flat major, G 541
Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No.2
Liszt - Les Preludes
Liszt - Liebestraum No.3 in A flat
Mascagni - Intermezzo (Cavalleria Rusticana)
Massenet - Méditation (Thaïs)
Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, 2nd movement ('Elvira Madigan')
Mozart - Rondo a' la Turc K331, No 3
Mozart - Rondo Alla Turca, from Piano Sonata in A
Mozart - The Magic Flute - Overture
Mozart- Symphony No. 40, 1st movement
Mozart - Violin Concerto No. 5 in A, 2nd Movement
Offenbach - Barcarolle, from 'The Tales of Hoffmann'
Pachalbel - Canon in D
Puccini - Madame Butterfly, Un Bel Di, (arranged for strings)
Puccini - O Mio Babbino Caro (Gianni Schicchi)
Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No.2
Rachmaninov - Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini
Rachmaninov - Vocalise Op 34 No. 14
Rossini - Overture - The Barber of Seville
Rossini - The Barber Of Seville - Overture
Saint-Saens - Aquarium From The Carnival Of Animals
Saint-saens - Danse macabre
Saint-Saens - The Swan From The Carnival Of Animals
Satie - Gymnopédie No.1
Schubert - Ave Maria
Sibelius - Rakastava
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake Suite Scene No.1
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis
Vaughn Williams - Fantasia On 'Greensleeves'
Verdi - La Traviata - Prelude to Act 1
Vivaldi - Allegro from Spring - The Four Seasons
Vivaldi - Flute Concerto in G minor 'La Notte', VI. Allegro
Vivaldi - Mandolin Concerto in C, RV 425

Photography Trip - Gympie - 2

2008-07-23T22:42:00.003+10:00

Bit of a washout due to shitty weather but some photos and text coming soon.

Next part:

Photography trip - Gympie - 3

previous part:

Photography trip - Gympie - 1

Analysis of “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman.

2008-07-21T22:00:00.004+10:00

In accordance with Glenn Fisher’s opinion that “Those from modern societies tend to place more stock in technical competence and qualifications, (1979 p. 25), Friedman believes that young people should be more inspired to be scientists, engineers etc. eschewing the more creative liberal arts subjects (as favoured by US colleges) for more economically profitable careers in the hard sciences (Johnson, 2005. p69,71).
Though my interests and qualifications span both liberal and technical subjects, I disagree that arts subjects should be de-emphasised. My library work related to the provision of multicultural resources for schools and education professionals, in addition to usual library duties I developed and designed language survival kits. It was very satisfying work as it enabled me to be creative, and work closely with the community, helping communications between teachers and students with first languages other than English. Some of my co-workers (translators) were refugees from war-torn countries, and it was fascinating to hear their stories, what they endured, how they managed to find work, and their aspirations.

I agree with Friedman on the importance of technological innovation. Advancements in speed, efficiency and availability of technology and communications since the late 20th century (Johnson, J. 2005 p69) facilitate global trading and communication, and increase competition. “The speed at which ideas are passed between people determines the rate of progress” (Leamer, 2006 p29) Expansion can have far-reaching negative consequences however, and here is where my beliefs conflict with Friedman’s. Writing from a predominantly western perspective extolling the benefits of business outsourcing, Friedman fills his book with anecdotes and selective statistics (Johnson. J. p70); failing to consider that the incentives of low costs (Varadarajan, S. 2005) and high availability of labour leads companies based in developed nations to outsource their labour to countries with comparatively lax attitudes towards workers rights; forcing people to work in unsafe conditions and for longer hours. “(few) americans felt the force of competition for their job from India or china…(many) companies were interested or engaged in moving jobs to India or china” (Leamer, 2006 p. 42). Such companies often do little to discourage or make a stand against the inequities and injustices that exist, widening the gap between skilled and unskilled workers. (Leamer, 2006 p. 11) puts it succinctly: “financial rewards relentlessly bend the system to their will”.

Despite these issues, I am in agreement with Friedman in my position that a large and diverse skillset is essential for survival (p88) to be adaptable to change (Field,1996), increasing employability. Those who “Fail to navigate the rapid changes”(Friedman, p88) or work to the demands of the flat world (Johnson, J. 2005 p69) will potentially be left behind.

Bibliography

Fisher, Glenn. 1980. “International Negotiation: A cross-cultural perspective.” Intercultural Press Inc. Maine, U.S.A

Fisher, Glenn. 1979 “Communications in a global society” Norwood, New Jersey. Ablex.

Friedman, Thomas. 2005. “The World is Flat: A Brief History of The 21st Century.” New York. Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

Field, Laurie.1996. “Skilling Australia”. Melbourne, Australia. Longman Australia Pty Ltd.

Johnson, J. 2006. “Mind The Gap.” Knowledge Quest, 35(2) p68-72.

Leamer, Edward E. 2006. “A Flat World, a level playing field, a small world after all, or none of the above? Review of Thomas L Friedman’s ‘The World Is Flat’” http://www.uclaforecast.com/reviews/leamer_flatworld_060221.pdf (accessed july 1st 2008)

Varadarajan, Siddarth. 2005. “But The World’s Still Round”. The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/br/2005/08/02/stories/2005080200381500.htm (accessed 1st july 2008)

Careers and Personality tests...

2008-07-21T08:05:00.004+10:00

I recently took one of those self-directed vocational suitability/personality test type questionnaires as part of my uni course.

You answer various questions involving self-evaluation of ability and various other factors. Each question is categorised and affirmative answers are tallied to scores in each category. The top 3 scores in each category become the three traits describing your personality and career suitability. the initial of each category forms part of a 3 character code. The letters in the code are prioritised so that the first letter is strongest, the second is second strongest etc. You are given a booklet detailing various career summaries and you can look up related careers suitable to your personality 'type' and skillset, and identify areas for improvement necessary for success should you decide to go for a career unrelated to your code.

I scored highly in the Artistic, Investigative, and Social codes, surprisingly.
The career/personality types in which I did not score highly in terms of suitability and general ability) were Conventional, Realistic, and Enterprising.

My summary code was AIS (Artistic, Investigative, Social) which confirmed what I already knew about my personality, and yet upon coding my occupational aspiration history I found a pattern that provided some new insight into why I made such a drastic career aspiration change recently:
My Code began with ISA (Forensic Psychologist)
then ARI (Sound engineer), then went gradually towards the complete reverse priority, AIS (Lighting Designer) Writer (ASI), and (Illustrator)(AIS).

Initially, from my results it appeared clear to me now why I no longer felt happy with the technical aspects of theatre in recent years: I longed for a position that was more creative artistically, it was the 'realistic' aspects of technical theatre that I didn’t truly enjoy and didnt come naturally to me.

Even though I enjoy working with technical equipment, learning new techniques and training others, I realise it was mainly the creative and problem-solving aspects of the job that attracted me in the first place.

I realised that I’d be more suited to illustrating and writing for a living, ambitions I have held since I was a young child, though admittedly they were often set aside for wildly divergent career choices to varying degrees of success.

Superficially, I found this survey to be somewhat useful, providing the validation I needed that my change was for the best, and I feel more positive about my future now that I have the information gleaned from the SDS and the career research report.

However, the usefulness of surveys of this sort have the potential to be compromised by confirmation bias, (See Forer, Beyerstein, etc) not to mention the similarly common self-serving bias and the dunning-kruger effect.

Awareness of the processes behind a self serving bias can help you to evaluate your performance and progress more critically, and it will allow you to use things like failures as learning experiences. (Smith, S. 2008)

I find this stuff fascinating, especially the implications for possible sources of bias in forensic psychological evaluation, one of my previous occupational interests.

Such awareness is useful for exercising critical thinking-- a valuable skill-- for university, most careers, and --of course-- life.

My apologies... I have made this post longer than usual because as Pascal said, I lack the time to make it shorter.

Laura

Pertinent Readings:

Holland, J. L (2006) Self - Directed Search:
Assessment Booklet. Macquarie University

Smith, S. 2008 http://www.wisegeek.com/

Forer, B. R. (1949). "The fallacy of personal validation: A classroom demonstration of gullibility". Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 44: 118–123.

Dickson, D. H.; Kelly, I. W. (1985). "The 'Barnum Effect' in Personality Assessment: A Review of the Literature". Psychological Reports 57: 367–382.

Justin Kruger; David Dunning (1999). "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77 (6): 1121–34.
http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf

Katherine A. Burson; Richard P. Larrick; Joshua Klayman;YUTAO (2006). "Skilled or Unskilled, but Still Unaware of It: How Perceptions of Difficulty Drive Miscalibration in Relative Comparisons". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90 (1): 60–77.
http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~larrick/bio/Files/2006%20Burson%20Larrick%20Klayman%20JPSP.pdf

Joyce Ehrlinger; David Dunning (January 2003). "How Chronic Self-Views Influence (and Potentially Mislead) Estimates of Performance". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84 (1): 5–17. American Psychological Association
http://psycnet.apa.org/?fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0022-3514.84.1.5

Photography trip - Gympie - 1

2008-07-15T18:29:00.003+10:00

Going to Gympie on 23rd.

It's an old gold mining town, lots of interesting history.

Should be useful for my upcoming history unit on 'the making of australia'.

Considering visiting Amamoor state forest, might see a platypus!
Anyway, expect photos soon.

L

Photography Trip - Gympie - 2

SP1 Results

2008-07-09T11:52:00.012+10:00

For Study Period 1, I got 3 credits (for units ssk12, ssk13, phi120).

I'm pleased, not bad for my first ever term at uni.... prior to which I thought I would fail miserably.

Let's see how I get on with History and Politics in Study Period 2!

In Study Period 3 (September 1st onwards) I'll be studying Global Politics, Shakespeare, Metaphysics and Classical Mythology next, should be a larf!

L

Regarding gender and race issues....

2008-07-02T12:40:00.002+10:00

Regarding gender and race issues.... well, like with most of what we've been discussing at uni, things are far from being perfect but in some ways they are so much better than they were. Bit of a weak statement but basically there's a long way to go yet.

It's actually easy for many of us to take what we have for granted... I've caught myself doing it at times, I'll admit, though learning history helps get a bit of perspective.

It seems to be human nature to quickly become acclimatised to a certain level of comfort....standards of living, benefits and rights etc. I guess the further removed we are from the actual struggles that won us these rights, freedoms, etc. the easier it is to become blasé.

It's why a proper understanding and appreciation of history and politics is vital, in order to know enough to recognise the warning signs... to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

One important thing that helps prevent me from getting too complacent is questioning even the most comfortable concepts. Too many people acquiesce unquestioningly and stay quiet rather than make a fuss which allows injustices to continue and proliferate.

Sorry, rambled a bit. hope i've made some sense...there was a point or two in there but they got lost. :-D

I shall finish on a quote:

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so sure of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts" - Bertrand Russell, attr.

Whatever comes next....

2008-07-02T06:07:00.003+10:00

I've been here 3 years now, living in the sunshine state (Queensland) waiting to get my permanent residency and then I'll see about citizenship. Dual hopefully! I still think of myself as a Brit. And yes, my brummie accent has softened somewhat but still pops up in conversation when certain words are used.

I miss everyone, especially christmases where you all get together. Christmas here in Australia is kinda weird. It's really hot, for one thing, and I have a whole set of Aussie inlaws, for another. :-)

I do intend to visit the UK, but can't just yet for 3 reasons:
1. I have to remain in australia until the decision on my permanent residency visa is made.
2. I'm in the middle of a degree in History and Political Science at Macquarie University (it's in Sydney) I'm hoping to finish within two years.
3. Due to the above reasons, (especially exorbitant visa 'application fees') money is too tight. We're saving though so once I get enough money and get dual citizenship I'll be over to visit.

It's not hard to get citizenship, theres a 95% pass rate first time, but in the unlikely event you fail, you can retake it for free as many times as it takes to pass it! Unfortunately the same isn't true of University studies. I have to pay $805 per unit (24 units=1 BA in History&Political Science) as I am not entitled to a loan or any help whatsoever with fees (not a citizen) which is fine, I dont want to have a debt to the commonwealth. And at least by paying as I go, I will graduate debt free!

If you want to see what I'm up to , where i've been in australia and the photos i've taken, check out the archives. I'm slowly backdating this blog to the time I arrived in australia.... I've taken thousands of pics over 3 years and what with study commitments and life stuff getting in the way, it takes alot of time to cull and sort them and choose the least bad ones for the blog.

I'm hoping to take an art degree after this one, but not before taking a long trip all round australia and new zealand to get some inspiration.

Sewing

2008-07-01T20:50:00.002+10:00

Recently bought my first sewing machine, a Singer.
Going to use it for repairs mainly. Who knows, maybe I'll get good enough to try making clothes or something!

Another Dead Comedy Legend...

2008-06-23T18:26:00.006+10:00

George Carlin, dead at 71, Heart failure.

Quotes

"Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time."

"Ever notice that anyone going slower than you is an idiot, but anyone going faster is a maniac?"

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, “You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.”

"No one knows what’s next, but everybody does it."

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day."

"I'm the ice box man at our house. I'm Ice Box Man! I answer the call when there's a need at the ice box. Two very important responsibilities, the first one is: keeping people from standing with the door to the refrigerator open for more than 45 minutes at a time. God, that gets me mad - "YOU WANT TO CLOSE THAT GODDAMN DOOR PLEASE? YOU WANT TO CLOSE THE DOOR?! YOU'RE LETTING OUT ALL OF THE COLDNESS I SAVED OVERNIGHT! COME ON, CLOSE THE DOOR!" - you know, some guy smoked eight joints and he's gonna inventory my refrigerator. "Ummmm...Ummm...Uhhh.... "Here, here's fifty dollars- go down to the Burger King. Willya, God! We'll save more than that on electricity alone. Close the goddamn door, willya?"
Look, if you wanna know what's in there, why don't you take a Polaroid picture and go away and look at the picture and then come back and figure out what you want. Years ago, we didn't have Polaroid cameras. We had to make an OIL PAINTING of what was in there!

Aah, I don't let it get me down. 'Cause there's a bigger responsibility. And that is getting into that refrigerator and deciding which things need to be thrown away. Most people will not take that responsibility. Most people will just go and get what they want, leave everything else alone and say, "Well, someone else wants that. Someone else will eat that" Meanwhile, the thing is getting smaller and smaller and smaller and is, in fact stuck to the rack. Well, I've got to go in there and decide when to throw things away. "Chocolate pudding? Does anyone want this last chocolate pudding? I have just one chocolate pudding left. It's only pulled away from the side of the dish about three inches all the way around. And there's a huge fault running through the center of the pudding. Actually, it's nothing but a ball of skin at this point. Does anyone want a ball of fault ridden chocolate pudding skin? I'm only going to throw it away."

Do people do that with you? Offer you some food that if you don't eat it, they're only going to throw it away. Well, doesn't that make you feel dandy? "Here's something to eat, Dave. Hurry up, it's spoiling!" "Something for you, Angela. Eat quickly, that green part is moving!" "Here, Bob. Eat this before I give it to an animal." Y'ever been looking through the refrigerator and you come across an empty plate? Boy, that starts me to wondering. Did something eat something else? Maybe the olives ate the tuna! Maybe that chicken isn't really dead yet. Actually, I picture a little mouse with gloves and a parka on, y'know. Just waiting for the lights to go out.

Perhaps the worst thing that can happen is to reach into the refrigerator and come out with something that you cannot identify at all. You literally do not know what it is. Could be meat, could be cake. Usually, at a time like that, I'll bluff. "Honey, is this good?" "Well, what is it?" "I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. It looks like...meatcake!" "Well, smell it." (snort, sniff) "It has absolutely no smell whatsoever!" "It's good! Put it back! Somebody is saving it. It'll turn up in something." Thats what frightens me. That someone will consider it a challenge and use it just because it's in there.

It's a leftover. What a sad word that is. Leftover. How would you like to be...a leftover? Well, it wouldn't be bad if they were taking people out to be shot. I might even volunteer. But, y'know, leftovers make you feel good twice. D'ja ever think about that? When you first put them away, you feel really intelligent- "I'm saving food!" And then, after a month, when hair is growing out of them and you throw them away you feel...really intelligent- "I'm saving my life!"

When you make a sandwich at home, do you reach down past the first three or four pieces of bread to go down and get 'the good bread'? It's kind of a self preservation thing, y'know? What you're really saying is, "Let my family eat the rotten bread! I'll take care of Numero Uno!" And down you go into the loaf. Down, looking for the two that you want, a matching pair. And you have to be careful pulling them out so they don't tear. And then when you get them to the top, the upper eight slices fall the other way. I never straighten them out. I think, screw it, let 'em think a burglar made a sandwich. Not my job, straightening out the bread.

Gotta tell me. In the refrigerator, who is it, please that puts into the refrigerator the half-gallon containers of milk with only that much left in them? I get one of those every time. Hey, here's some milk- fooom! ...God, not enough to drink. Better put that back, huh? I know my responsibilities."

Discography

1963
Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight

1966
Take-Offs and Put-Ons

January 27, 1972
FM & AM

September 29, 1972
Class Clown

October 1973
Occupation: Foole

November 1974
Toledo Window Box

October 1975
An Evening with Wally Londo Featuring Bill Slaszo

April 1977
On the Road

November 1981
A Place for My Stuff

1984
Carlin on Campus

July 30, 1986
Playin' with Your Head

August 15, 1988
What Am I Doing In New Jersey?

November 20, 1990
Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics

November 10, 1992
Jammin' in New York

October 27, 1992
Classic Gold

April 10, 1995
Killer Carlin

September 17, 1996
Back in Town

May 14, 1999
You Are All Diseased

October 19, 1999
The Little David Years (1971-1977)

December 11, 2001
Complaints and Grievances

March 12, 2002
George Carlin on Comedy

January 10, 2006
Life Is Worth Losing

2008
It's Bad for Ya

Life Is Worth Losing

An attempt at brevity... one feels stilted

2008-06-22T16:16:00.002+10:00

My varied interests make career decisions difficult. From writer, librarian, arts worker, trapeze artist, charity worker, graphic artist, photographer, lighting designer/tech; only writer and artist prevail.

My studies are directly relevant to my career aspirations. To a certain extent I found it easy to tailor the course to my requirements.

I have a strong work ethic and a strong tendency towards critical thinking and careful planning (this is actually my way of procrastinating) before deciding on anything. This is tentatively balanced with creativity and spontaneity.

People who make various decisions solely on the basis of it being "the thing to do", without thinking it through first and exploring their interests— often end up dropping out soon after. Those who 'stay on' solely out of financial necessity or the pressure of other people’s expectations, are seldom truly happy.

In attempting to circumvent this situation, I find it hard sometimes to quit cogitating and act. This may prevent me from making minor mistakes, but also prevents me from going for anything -- a disastrous mistake.

Issues with time and confidence threaten to derail me, however I have unconditional support from loved ones; and interests and skills to build upon, should things not work out as planned/hoped for.

good grief.

2008-06-22T05:59:00.004+10:00

I'm now in my second term at uni. I am studying History and Politics.

So far, Uni is: interesting and dull; frustrating and effortless.

Interesting- The number of resources available to me and the variety of viewpoints i am encountering.

Dull- Some of the most interesting readings are too short and leave me wanting more(always a good thing), but the most trite readings invariably run to twenty pages when their salient points could be conveyed in half a page or less.... and when pared down they are less than impressive.

Frustrating- I struggle to curb my tendency towards ornate prose and convoluted forms of expression. Which also makes me a hypocrite considering my previous point.

Effortless-

Study period 2 2008

2008-06-03T22:07:00.002+10:00

PLT110 - Introduction to Australian Politics
SSK15 - Careers and Work

Study period 1 2008

2008-03-03T22:09:00.002+10:00

SSK12 - Introduction to University Study
SSK13 - Learning and Communication Behaviour
PHI120 - Critical Thinking

Dvds I have seen, and recommend

2008-01-17T19:22:00.000+10:00

(More to come soon)

28 Days Later
A Fistful of Dollars
Alien
Aliens
American History X
Austin Powers 1
Back to the Future
Back to the Future 2
Baseketball
Batman
Batman Begins
Batman Returns
Being John Malkovich
Bill Hicks - Sane Man
Blackadder 1
Blackadder 2
Blackadder 3
Blackadder 4
Borat
Brazil
Bruce Almighty
Bullitt
Casablanca
Casino
Castaway
Citizen Kane
Clueless
Dead Man Walking
Dog Day Afternoon
Donnie Brasco
Downfall
Dr. Strangelove
Educating Rita
Erin Brockovitch
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Family Guy
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Fight Club
For A Few Dollars More
Frasier series 1
Frasier series 2
Frasier series 3
Frasier series 4
Frasier series 5
Frasier series 6
Frasier series 7
Get Carter
Ghostbusters 1
Ghostbusters 2
Ghostworld
Goodfellas
Grease
Groundhog Day
Jack Dee Live
Jackie Brown
James Bond (various films)
Jaws
Kill Bill 1
La Jetee
Little Voice
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Mean Streets
Men in Black 1
Mike Bassett England Manager
Monty Python and The Holy Grail
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Life of Brian
Monty Python's Meaning of Life
Not The Nine O'Clock News
Office Space
Pan's Labyrinth
Philadelphia
Phoenix Nights series 1
Phoenix Nights series 2
Phone Booth
Pleasantville
Predator 1
Predator 2
Pulp Fiction
Rain Man
Red Dwarf series 1
Red Dwarf series 2
Red Dwarf series 3
Red Dwarf series 4
Red Dwarf series 5
Red Dwarf series 6
Red Dwarf series 7
Red Dwarf series 8
Reservoir Dogs
Rocky
Rome series 1
Rome Series 2
Scarface
Seinfeld
Shaun of The Dead
Sleepy Hollow
Snatch
South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut
Space Odyssey: 2001
Spartacus
That Peter Kay Thing
The Armstrong and Miller show series 1
The Armstrong and Miller Show series 2
The Blues Brothers
The Fast Show
The Fellowship of The Ring
The Godfather
The Godfather 2
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
The Goonies
The Great Escape
The Ipcress File
The Italian Job
The Magnificent Seven
The Manchurian Candidate
The Mask
The Office (UK) series 1
The Office (UK) series 2
The Princess Bride
The Return of The King
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Shining
The Two Towers
The Young Ones series 1
The Young Ones series 2
This is Spinal Tap
Twelve Monkeys
Zulu

Study options! and crappy sketch.

2008-01-17T17:42:00.000+10:00

I blame society.

(by which I mean the biro, and/or my drawing ability)

I've gone back to my natural hair colour (medium/dark blonde) by simply growing it out and using product on the ends (fades colour faster) and an occasional temporary colour for condition and to maintain an even tone. I don't trust the harsh colour-removal products though-- if I was going to damage it by doing that then I might as well have just cut off the darker ends, save some time.

Bands whose music I love

2008-01-15T19:49:00.000+10:00

#1: Supergrass (the rest are in alphabetical order)

Abba
Adam and The Ants
Air
Annie Lennox
Ash
Astrud Gilberto
b52's
Barber
Basement Jaxx
Beastie Boys
Beck
Beethoven
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Sabbath
Blondie
Blur
Bob Marley
Boo Radleys
Cast
Catatonia
Chemical Brothers
Chrissie Hynde
Crowded House
Curtis Mayfield
Cypress Hill
Dave Brubeck
David Bowie
De La Soul
Deadbeats
Death In Vegas
Debussy
Deee-Lite
Deep Purple
Depeche Mode
Dexy's Midnight Runners
Diamond Hoo Ha Men
Dodgy
Duran Duran
Echo and The Bunnymen
Echobelly
Eels
Elastica
Elliott Smith
Elvis Costello
Erasure
Eskimo Joe
Eurythmics
Folk Implosion
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Franz Ferdinand
Garbage
Gary Numan
Goldfrapp
Gorillaz
Green Day
Groove Armada
Guns 'n' Roses
Happy Mondays
Holst
Iggy pop
Iron Maiden
J. Pachalbel
James
Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Cliff
Joy Division
Kate Bush
Kiss
Kraftwerk
Kula Shaker
L7
Led Zeppelin
Liszt
Longpigs
Lostprophets
Lou Reed
Lunatic Calm
Lush
Madness
Manic Street Preachers
Mascagni
Massive Attack
Metallica

Moby
Motley Crue
Motorhead
Mozart
New Order
Nirvana
No Doubt
Ocean Colour Scene
Outkast
Paul Weller
Placebo
Portishead
Prodigy
Prokofiev
Propellerheads
Public Enemy
Pulp
Queen
Queens of The Stone Age
Radiohead
Rage Against The Machine
Rick James
Run DMC
Saint-saens
Satie
Sekiden
Sex Pistols
Siouxsie and The Banshees
Skunk Anansie
Sleeper
Smashing Pumpkins
Sneaker Pimps
Sonic Youth
Space
Stereo MC's
Sting
Suede
System Of A Down
T-Rex
Tchaikovsky
The Avalanches
The Beat
The Beatles
The Breeders
The Buzzcocks
The Charlatans
The Clash
The Cooper Temple Clause
The Cure
The Dandy Warhols
The Electric Soft Parade
The Fall
The Hives
The Jam
The Kinks
The La's
The Lightning Seeds
The Offspring
The Pixies
The Police
The Pretenders
The Ramones
The Rapture
The Selecter
The Shirehorses
The Smiths
The Source
The Special A.K.A
The Specials
The Stone Roses
The Stranglers
The Sweeney
The Undertones
The Verve
The White Stripes
The Who
Tripod
U2
UB40
Ultravox
Underworld
Weezer
Wire
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Books I have read and recommend (more to come)

2008-01-14T19:54:00.000+10:00

Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet On The Western Front
John Keane - Tom Paine - A Political Life
Joseph Heller - Catch 22
Niccolo Machiavelli - The Prince
Plato - The Republic
Thomas Paine - Agrarian Justice
Thomas Paine - Rights of Man
Thomas Paine - The Age Of Reason

Decisions

2008-01-14T18:40:00.000+10:00

Just made the final decision on my units for this year, which was a migraine-inducing pain in the arse (???) what with some units being only available at certain times so I had to juggle a bit, but I've got it sorted now.

Here you need 24 units for a bachelor degree, you do 12 at level 1, 6 at level 2, 6 at level 3.

I've chosen to take on 3 units per study period, (There are 4 study periods a year). The maximum units you can study per period is 4 but they don't recommend it if you're starting uni for the first time --and I don't want to risk overloading myself too soon otherwise my work will suffer or I'll go mental with the pressure hehehe.

Of course, next year I'm free to pick up the pace and finish before the 2 year mark. Which will be an achievement of sorts, but its not a race, I don't need to prove myself to anyone, so however it plays out, I am fine with it.

I am still backdating my posts --so check back if interested-- but naturally it will be sporadic once I am studying.

It's raining its arse off here, we certainly need it but it's a bit depressing to study with an endless grey curtain falling outside my window.

Then again what's worse for a student than having to study when it's a beautiful day outside...

Uni looms ominously over the horizon...

2008-01-10T22:29:00.000+10:00

Hope you all had a great new year and that your accompanying hangovers have subsided by now.

I am currently organising what units I am going to take this year which is a bit complicated and involved, and as such is rather taxing for someone of my intellectual capacity.

So in the meantime, feel free to read the ever-growing list of backdated posts to see the places I've been to, and be blown away by how few of them you've heard of.

Montage! 1: LT's Winamp favourites 2007

2008-01-07T00:46:00.000+10:00

Those who dislike turtles (ESPECIALLY testudo), acquaint yourself with the greatness of these artists while I flesh out my posts. (browse through the labels on the right panel to see the 'works in progress') And rest assured, I'll get right on it. *goes off to read about some damnable studenty subject*

feed us!

2008-01-06T21:16:00.000+10:00

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T00:21:00.000+10:00

With much love to friends and family. You all know who you are. I miss you all, and times of the year when we would all be gathering are even harder to bear.

Salutations

2007-12-30T05:46:00.001+10:00

Testudo is posting on behalf of LT as she is busy "preparing for the new year" or some such excuse. Therefore he has taken the liberty of posting a portrait of himself in order to delight and "amuse" turtle fans everywhere, and to distract the more easily entertained/gullible visitors until the REAL content arrives. As it surely will.

Australia Zoo (pt 2)

2007-10-25T23:49:00.000+10:00

Flowers @ Australia Zoo (Can anyone identify these for me?)

Australia Zoo

2007-10-24T16:19:00.000+10:00

More Coming Soon.

All animal names are guesses based on my dubious knowledge of their physical description. So if any names are wrong or incomplete then feel free to elucidate. Latin names would be interesting to add as well.

Turtle @ Australia Zoo

It's Testudo!

There were hundreds of these things in the water downstream from the tortoise paddock.

They were swimming beneath the surface --the edges of their shells catching the light-- and bobbing up occasionally.

They are definitely strange looking, a mixture of cute and creepy, I can't decide.

Tasmanian Devil @ Australia Zoo

1: *yawn*

2: What's all this then...

3: Get out!

The picture is a bit overexposed so you cant see, but the tips of his ears were reddened, I have no idea why.

It came out of its den, scanned the area, saw me and my camera, made an ungodly screech and approached rapidly. I was glad of the glass partition!

Alligator @ Australia Zoo

*deep growl* These were scary beasts, I was thankful for the barrier between me and those muscular creatures!

Red Kangaroo @ Australia Zoo

Sleepy Kanga :-) It was great to sit with these in the dappled shade, they didn't mind at all, I liked being able to approach (carefully of course, and considerately) without them darting off into the bushes like most animals or birds do. They have long droopy eyelashes (like camels) to protect their eyes from the glare of the sun and from dust etc. A few kangaroos were dusting themselves, a lot were snoozing in the shade or partly so. This one was having dinner.

South-eastern Koala @ Australia Zoo

All they did was snooze :-)

Sleepy South-eastern Koala @ Australia Zoo

Next time I am definitely going to arrange to cuddle one of these they're gorgeous... watch out for the claws though!

Bengal Tiger Cubs @ Australia Zoo

Needless to say these were cute. It was interesting to watch them play fight and ambush each other, swim in the pool and roll around on the grass batting a beach ball.

Bengal Tiger @ Australia Zoo

The mom, I'm assuming. Absolutely beautiful, sleeping peacefully in the shade. Original pic is much larger and you can see the detail on the fur and the eye markings... Definitely one of my favourite animals I have seen for the first time (in real life).

Asian Elephant @ Australia Zoo

Another beautiful animal, surprisingly graceful, and calm. This elephant broke away from the group that were dusting themselves and went to play in the water to cool off. :-) I was so close that I could see the water droplets collected on its eyelashes.

Asian Elephant @ Australia Zoo

Sharper pic. The trunk was amazing, very tactile (of course) and the elephants were using them to scoop fine dust from the ground and fling it in a swift arc over their backs. This elephant rolled around in the water, explored with its trunk held up like a periscope, and at one point leant against the warm concrete edge of the lake with the cool water lapping against its hairy head. :-)

I envied the elephant, it was a very hot day and I was sorely tempted to pour the entire contents of my water bottle over my head...luckily I didn't get burned by the sun or nibbled by mosquitos so It was just the heat and glare that I had to endure.

Eastern Water Dragon @ Australia Zoo

These were everywhere, especially round the crocodile compound for some reason... an affinity for fellow lizards? hehe

I love the crisp sharp features of the lizard's head, the scales and crest, the eyes, very expressive.

These were tricky to photograph --than say, the kangaroos-- but not as hard as photographing birds. The trick is to approach slowly, and don't make any sudden movements or invade their space, and take photos as you go, cause it could dart away at any time.

This photo is a big improvement on my earlier photos of the eastern or gippsland water dragons (taken in 2005/2006), much closer and clearer and composed better (still need improvement though)

Eastern Grey Kangaroo @ Australia Zoo

Their colouring and stillness help them to blend into the leaves really well when they are lying down, the soft beige reminded me of deer. Beautiful gentle creatures. Kind of ruined the atmosphere when a load of tourists' kids ran right up to them and started tapping them and bending their ears :-( stupid brats.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo @ Australia Zoo

Brush Turkey @ Australia Zoo

Red Kangaroos @ Australia Zoo

Asian Elephant @ Australia Zoo

Hervey Bay 2

2007-07-27T16:06:00.000+10:00

Coming Soon

Springbrook Rainforest

2007-06-04T22:36:00.000+10:00

Coming soon

Geebung 1

2007-05-01T17:48:00.000+10:00

More Coming Soon

Redcliffe

2007-03-13T00:19:00.000+10:00

More coming soon

Techie offenses

2007-03-10T00:07:00.000+10:00

LX and Sound Offenses-
Missed pickup $ 20.00
Missed tape cue $ 20.00
Late tape cue $ 50.00
Early tape cue $ 75.00
Wrong tape cue $ 150.00
Going on an uncalled cue $ 10.00
Not going on an uncalled cue $ 500.00
Failure to bail out clueless stage manager $ 0.01
Unauthorized bailing out of clueless stage manager OSTRACISM
Failure to duck out offensive orchestral players $ 35.00
Failure to duck out offensive vocalizations $ 55.00
Feedback $ 100.00
Falling asleep at console $ 20.00
Causing feedback by falling asleep at console $ 150.00
Audible snoring at console $ 75.00
Making audible rude comments on the performance $ 5.00
Failure to maintain correct mixing levels $ 150.00
Failure to correct glaring errors caused by designer $ 50.00
Correcting glaring errors caused by designer LOSS OF JOB

Wireless Offenses-
Failure to mute faulty wireless $ 100.00
Failure to mute wireless when actor is not on stage $ 50.00
Failure to mute wireless while actor is in bathroom $ 2.00
Recording wireless while actor is in bathroom $ 0.00
Recording wireless while actor is gossiping $ 0.00
Listening to wireless gossip on headphones WHO'LL KNOW?
Self-serving use of wireless gossip $ 5,000.00

General Offenses-
Excessive whining $ 10,000.00
Excessive cheerfulness $ 15,000.00
Hiding/sleeping during load-in ELECTROCUTION
Hiding/sleeping during load-out HANGING

Valentine's Day 2007

2007-02-14T21:20:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 10)

2006-10-07T06:00:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 9)

2006-10-07T05:58:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 8)

2006-10-07T05:57:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 7)

2006-10-07T05:54:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 6)

2006-10-07T05:40:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 5)

2006-10-07T04:57:00.001+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 4)

2006-10-07T04:57:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 3)

2006-10-07T04:55:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (pt 2)

2006-10-07T04:46:00.000+10:00

Hervey Bay (part 1)

2006-10-07T04:45:00.000+10:00

More Coming Soon

Bribie Island 3

2006-09-09T07:19:00.000+10:00

Wedding

2006-07-22T06:18:00.000+10:00

Purple! Happy times!

Cant see em but I was also wearing Purple Dr Martens! bloody students with their 'groovy' footwear...

The necklace is handmade, I used pomegranate coloured quartz, onyx and amethyst.

My hair is longer than it appears, it reached just past my shoulders(and it reaches halfway down my back now), and I am even paler than I appear here. Joke.

Nah this is what happens when you ask a well-meaning elderly family member to work the camera: auto-flash and slow shutter-speed coupled with unsteady hands makes for a dodgy picture. Ah well it's not too bad I guess. ok lighting in general though the purple is somewhat subdued.

Coolangatta

2006-05-13T19:38:00.000+10:00

Coming Soon

A pom of my acquaintance pays a visit

2006-04-21T21:12:00.000+10:00

More to come soon (and pics etc)

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Wednesday 12th April

Arrival and local area orientation, and shopping for sustenance in book form and in victuals. Elliot discovers Marriot bookshop and starts emptying the shelves.
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Thursday 13th April- Roma Parklands and CBD
Took train to roma street, walked to parklands, walked across bridges and through herb and flower gardens, saw flocks of ibis, saw a blue lobster picking its way over shale and pebbles in a shallow stream beneath lush forest canopy, huge spiders harvesting flies and beetles from their webs, a solitary and graceful crane, a waterfall or two, ducks and seagulls and tadpoles and swallows etc.

Got ‘a bit’ lost after leaving from opposite end to the one we came in at. Found bearings when we got to the main city CBD(central business district) though, saw city lights, walked past city hall and went through queen street mall, and had dinner at a subway before catching train home for dinner, yummy meatloaf etc

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Friday 14th April- Monty Python day

Jabberwocky, Holy grail, Life of Brian, Meaning of Life, Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Tucked into sweets and fizzy pop like kids…
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Saturday 15th April- Mount Coot-tha, honeyeater trail and slaughter falls trail
So hot and dry, but lovely walking the honeyeater trail and the slaughter falls trail and seeing insects and trees and plants and listening to birdsong. Took some great photos of the superb views and of interesting things we saw in the forest walks. Reflective elements in the soil made the colour appear to change as afternoon sunlight hit it, then the glow of sunset. Saw fungi, spiders, trees and flowers, small caterpillar climbing up elliot’s shin, ant-hills, beautiful effects from sunset at the summit etc. Orange moon! Saw the city lights slowly coming on and the city cat going down the Brisbane river.

Dacelo novaguineae, "Laughing Kookaburra"
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Family: Alcedinidae
The Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaguineae) is the largest kingfisher. They have a loud, maniacal laughing call and are often heard in "chorus." They feed mainly on reptiles and large invertebrates. They are common in woodlands and forests in eastern Australia and are often seen in pairs. Length: 46cm.
Other birds seen include Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos, Brush Turkeys, Noisy Miners, and Currawongs.
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Sunday 16th April- Mount Coot-tha Botanical Gardens
Another day of gorgeous weather. Was glad of water bottles as quite hot and long walks etc. but not as tiring as previous day. Saw the most beautiful Forest plants and trees I have ever seen, infinite variety and colour and uses…… saw awesome palm trees from all over the world in the rainforest walk, sat on the bench and had sandwiches, refilled water bottles from one of the numerous water fountains dotted around the area. Saw dragonflies in about 6 different colours and varying sizes.

Tasted windfalls in the fruit tree area, chinese apples and pecans particularly. Saw fantastic tropical fruits and enormous flourishing vegetable gardens, saw fast growing bamboo, all kinds, saw huge cacti, cocoa plants in the tropical dome, bonsai trees, a large crested water lizard, a large turtle(only briefly), saw brush turkeys and heard kookaburra, crows, magpies and other birds. Sat by fruit trees in scattered shade and sketched stuff with elliot. I drew the tree just ahead, elliot drew his version of the roman dude on the cover of the book he’d bought me. We saw cockatiels and coconut trees, took lots of great pictures, and went home knackered but happy. One of my favourite days.
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Monday 17th April- Gold Coast and Beaches…
Drove through gold coast tourist areas, drove down to main gold coast area and bought souvenirs (cuddly toys and spear etc) and walked along the gorgeous coastline for a while, near white sand and blue seas watching the waves and taking pictures and stuff, went to surfer’s paradise and looked around tourist shopping area and lastly ate dinner whilst looking out to sea.
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Tuesday 18th April- Brisbane City, CBD and SouthBank cultural sights

Took train to Central station, went to queen street mall, looked round all shops and then on to city hall, parliament house, Brisbane museum, Queensland Museum(better), Anzac Square, Victoria Bridge, tried to find sciencentre but failed, (changed location apparently) went to city botanical gardens that weren’t as rich in variety or colour as mt coot-tha’s nor roma street parklands, but were a nice place to read and walk and relax, notably me reading a book under the shade of (and elliot reading in the branches of) a ‘Jerusalem sycamore’ tree :) saw another water dragon, this one had a red glow on its chest (to attract potential mate?)Took pictures and it soon scuttled into the pond, presumably out on the pull.
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Wednesday 19th April- Sunshine Coast, Underwater world, and Bribie Island

Underwater world was fantastic, was disappointed to not see a big fuckoff octopus (thats the latin term) but the sharks and manta rays and turtles in the underwater tunnel (and in open topped tanks) were awesome, not to mention the fish and frogs etc. there was a dinosaur world too but we didn’t stay there long as it was embarrassingly lame. Indeed the animatronics were so jerky it made me wonder if t-rexes/rexii?? were susceptible to parkinson's disease back in the triassic period!! Far from fearsome, unless one is reminded of the impending ravages of old age. The only thing that was just barely worth taking a picture of was the velociraptors and even they were sub-par.

Bribie island was beautiful, a lovely calm walk along the beach, fishing area, picnic area and pier, marred only by the fact that it must be lorikeet season as they kicked up the most awful racket, they are beautiful, thousands upon thousands of rainbow coloured parrots but their piercing squawks made my head start to ache eventually….was glad to drive down to the main beach area and walk quietly across firm sand down the coast, gorgeous rainbow coloured sky as the sun set and we found shells and caught crabs that ran really fast but elliot managed to catch one and hold it for inspection, then we let it go and it ran down the many crab holes in the sand...

we saw larger crabs but didn’t catch them, they were too nimble and sand coloured(for obvious reasons) so it was easy to lose track of where they were. Didn’t see any turtles nor dugongs, I don’t think it’s the right time of year for them, and dugongs are very rare anyway. We saw more ibis and more seagulls, some people fishing at the shore, (with laid-back bystanders ‘cracking open a tinnie’) and a large macaw, in silhouette, circling high up, its colours only evident when it turned towards the setting sun.
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Thursday 20th April- Sunshine Coast- Glasshouse Mountains-

Mt Ngungun and crop field walking(pineapples and avocado plantations in particular) seeing caves and huge trees and volcanic rocks(ancient lava plugs apparently) and rich red soil….taking pictures of views and interesting trees and plants, then was chased home by huge wasp to train station and got sunburnt waiting for train back home, arriving at Corinda at 4.45, 15mins before bookshop closing time…..got off train hurriedly, followed by last minute dash to marriot’s to buy last remaining books on the classics and ancient Mediterranean history shelf :-D
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Glasshouse Mountains 1

2006-04-20T18:37:00.000+10:00

Coming Soon

A Pom of my acquaintance pays a visit: Bribie Island

2006-04-19T07:25:00.000+10:00

Gold Coast 3

2006-04-17T19:10:00.000+10:00

Coming Soon

Musings from a Night Owl

2006-02-14T21:47:00.000+10:00

There's a place near the Brisbane River called the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, situated not far from here in a suburb called Fig Tree Pocket :) I think it's a lovely name, and apt- there's thousands of fig trees in Brisbane, they line the main road to the city centre and many gardens have them.

Fruit bats colonise areas along the Brisbane River and are known to fly in clouds over the houses in this part of Brisbane but I haven't seen any yet (I have heard them though)...
I'd like to visit the sanctuary sometime soon, and explore caves and other such places where bats hang out.

I'd also like to visit Springwood Rainforest and see the glow-worms and luminous fungi after dark!

You can get species lists from the queensland heritage sites, its fascinating to read just how many different kinds of wildlife there are, most of which I have yet to see!

Anurae, Scincidae, Theridiidae, Oh my!

2006-02-13T21:07:00.000+10:00

Skinks, cane toads, frogs and geckos are everywhere! Not used to such creatures on my doorstep. Anyway, I welcome the skinks and geckos as they eat huntsmen ('what???') and the redback, a deadly spider which I'm shit scared of to be honest, I've never liked little noises when I'm on my own as a general rule, but when it can actually crawl inside your clothes in the washing basket if you don't hang em outside straight away... little things like that are unnerving... but it keeps me on my toes.

I've not seen a huntsman or any other spider yet, thanks to our gecko friends :-) so small, fits in the palm of your hand, little sticky pads on its hands, these Brisbane house geckos are beige coloured with black eyes and they often scale the walls or windows and actually approach you and peep round the corners, you see a little head pop out from a partially opened window and you know the gecko is catching moths and spiders and such :) it was disconcerting at first for me cause I don't like small rustling sounds and things moving suspiciously in the corner, but these are seen as good creatures, not pests- they eat flies moths and ants etc, redbacks too which is a damn good thing.

I like geckos, they're cute, they make peeping sounds whilst fixing you with their little black eyes :) they often come into the house, I was worried at first cause I didn't want to accidentally squish one, but they move very fast and are cautious, so its ok. Unfortunately they and the skinks (great band :-p) get eaten by the ibis but I still love the ibis even so.

Skinks are the lizards that come out when its really hot, like 35degrees, you see them dart across pavements... I think they're the ones that can detach their tails if grabbed? They move even faster than geckos do.

Cane toads love the tropical weather, I hear them burping and croaking when it rains heavily which isn't often but when its really super hot for a few days then eventually we'll get a storm and the frogs and toads all come out on the lawn and make their noises... It's like the British expression, 'nice weather for ducks' only here it's amphibians :)

Insects here range from tiny ants -the bane of my life at the moment due to hot weather, though they don't fly, thankfully, and hygienic vigilance and special surface spray keeps them at bay- to huge mudwasps that hover outside the window, scary they are, they sometimes nest in peoples ovens in summer apparently.

Mmm... baked wasp!

And we also get huge bloody crickets here, crazy things that jump about on the hot pavements, and when pissed off they make their presence known!!

Bribie Island

2006-01-07T06:55:00.000+10:00

Pelican!

Gold Coast 2

2005-12-28T19:04:00.000+10:00

Coming Soon

Gold Coast 1

2005-12-26T15:50:00.000+10:00

Coming Soon

Christmas Eve in Corinda

2005-12-24T20:03:00.000+10:00

The sun sets on a beautifully hot Christmas Eve...

My tiny tree (I love fibre optics :-)

Gold Coast - My First Glimpse

2005-12-20T23:47:00.000+10:00

First pictures taken whilst visiting inlaws in Tugun, a town on the Gold Coast, not far from Coolangatta.

Gold Coast - A beautiful Summer's Day. You can see the coastline stretching across centre right, Surfer's paradise is just about visible.

The sand is so much cleaner than most of the beaches I've been to in the UK. The sea is varying shades of a tropical blue, the plant-life lush and green and varied...beautiful. I hope to visit the Great Barrier Reef and/or the Whit-Sundays one year and see some underwater creatures...

My inlaws' place is 5minutes walk from this area :-) you just walk straight out on to the beach, very peaceful and not as crowded as Surfer's Paradise for example.

The sky goes on forever here --Hope you know what I mean by that-- It's just that everything seems more open plan, not entirely cluttered with greyness like many parts of Birmingham.

The glare of the sun off the white sand and the pavements was dazzling, took a while to get used to. The heat is not a problem so far --though it is set to get much hotter-- as it is tempered by cool southerly winds that stir the leaves of the gum trees and ruffle the feathers of the lorikeets. They are a kind of small rainbow-coloured parrot that congregates amongst the foliage in the late afternoon and dusk and make an awful racket. Beautiful though.

Stormy Summer Skies In Corinda (pt 2)

2005-12-10T21:23:00.000+10:00

Stormy Summer Skies in Corinda

2005-12-08T21:13:00.000+10:00

Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens

2005-11-26T07:43:00.000+10:00

Various foliage , long branches snaking across. A small lizard that dropped off the branch at the last second it seems :-(

I still like the photo though, even though its subject had decided to launch itself :-P

Tugun

2005-11-12T19:08:00.000+10:00

More Coming Soon

Simba :-)

Brum to Brissie

2005-10-13T20:27:00.000+10:00

The evening flight from Birmingham to Frankfurt on the 9th September 2005 was pretty depressing and nerve-wracking, but thankfully uneventful.

Frankfurt Airport was awful, customs handled my laptop like it was a basketball, and I was really really worried about missing my flight as I didn't know where to go as the announcements were loud and tinny but indistinct, but fortunately I found a nice Scottish lady who pointed me in the right direction.

I watched Downfall on the plane from Frankfurt to Singapore... pretty good film. House of Wax and Monster in Law were shite obviously but by that time I had exhausted the reserves of British comedy and needed something to send me to sleep.

The climb was fantastic, the view once we got above the clouds was awe-inspiring, I wished I could capture it, there was a thunderstorm, splitting the clouds apart, fantastic, I love storms, there have been a few here, but due to the location we only get the tail end, so the storms are rarely destructive... I was really pissed off that I missed the Himalayas, it was night time when we went over... grrr

Experienced severe turbulence over Bali, was very nervous then as it was my first flight... The rest of the flights were fine though, jet lag was bad, got hungry and tired at weird times.

Singapore Airport was nice, though very hot and humid outside and a bit daunting inside as I happened to catch sight of guards with big guns. and hearing what happens if someone plants stuff on you prior to getting searched. I didn't leave my bags for a second. they'd blow it up anyway, hehe unattended bags and all that, can't take chances.

Brief uneventful domestic flight from Sydney Airport to Brisbane Airport culminating in a case of severe luggage strap failure upon retrieval from the luggage area... I forgot such petty annoyances once I left the airport and was hit with an overwhelming blast of heat and dazzling sunshine... "I remember this, it's called 'The Sun', right?"

I'm living in Corinda, in Southeast Brisbane, about an hour's drive from the sunshine coast :) lovely weather here, so bright, and hot, (Queensland isn't called the sunshine state for nowt) and the sky is fantastic, the birds, the plants, the palm trees, everything lush and green :)

For a frame of reference, I'm staying not far from the factory where they make Castlemaine beer hehe. Brisbane people are so nice, so easygoing and helpful and relaxed, but they work hard and go the extra mile :)

From what I have observed they have great taste in music too, British stuff is very popular, I'm listening to early 90's stuff, and also jazz and classical stuff, recently discovered Dave Brubeck, and have been playing him alot on the Dj-ing gigs+events I do occasionally, I do the lighting but because I know more about classical and jazz stuff, I can suggest good tracks to the DJ. He does the sound and I do the lighting and effects stuff, and we both set up the equipment too, (lighting truss and lamps and strobe and effects pieces, lighting laptop, external drive (full of mp3s) loads of cables, power packs, adaptors, etc ) and speakers and mixers, so, its a roadie's/rigger's job too, knackers your back sometimes...

Id love to go to New Zealand, I'm definitely going to save up and go. The mountains, valleys, forests, rivers and wildlife look great, the climate is similar to the UK I've heard, and the population is made up of little communities where everybody knows each other, like Wales... so I've been told... hehehe

Corinda

2005-09-15T23:44:00.000+10:00

More Coming Soon

Arrival in Corinda

2005-09-12T22:20:00.000+10:00

Corinda, a Suburb in South-East Brisbane

An apartment in Corinda, South-East Brisbane