Freefalling

I’m that friend that always tries to convince you to do random things outside of most people’s comfort zones. Not because I am a bully, but because I feel people should generally try something once. My main mission as of the last year or so is to get as many friends and associates of mine to go skydiving. I’ve done it and found it absolutely amazing and I wish that as many people as possible could experience it.

And then something like what happens today ends up in the news and everyone feels justified in thinking those who go skydiving are insane and would never ‘jump out of a perfectly good airplane’.

The event I am referring to is the tragic accident in the Lockyer Valley today that saw a sixty-two year old, very experienced skydiver fall to his death when both his parachute and reserve parachute failed. Very little is actually known (or shared with us) of the details. All I could find out was this man had done jumps like these for something like 1,000 times and had packed his own chutes, but for some – currently – unknown reason they did not work for him. People rushed to the scene and performed CPR but they couldn’t help him.

Understandably those people are traumatised, especially because the thought of someone falling that far and knowing the likely grave outcome that would result is absolutely horrible. I would never wish that upon anyone. I do, however, have issues with what I know is going to result from this; people will turn their noses up at skydiving or will protest against.

Now, as I said above, I’ve been skydiving. Only once mind you, but I’ve always wanted to do it. And I plan to do it again, many times in fact. Even this incident, as upsetting as it is – even to me – has not put me off jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet, and I honestly don’t think it should for anybody else either.

Yes, there are dangers when it comes to skydiving, but there is in most things you do in your everyday lives. Skydiving’s threats are just more glaringly obvious. But all the necessary precautions are taken. The thing that bugs me most, and what I really want to convey as my message here, is that there are very few deaths related to skydiving. The biggest killer is motor vehicles. More people have died driving home from work or going out than jumping out of a plane thousands of feet in the sky. I think a little perspective is needed here. When you jump out of a plane you put on all the safety equipment, you run over procedures, you do every possible thing you can to make the experience as safe and happy and successful as is possible. Now look at driving and we have people that don’t wear seatbelts, don’t care about lights or speed restrictions or even keeping their eyes on the road because – oh! They have a text message on their phone!

I just think it’s a little wrong. People thinking they know what is right and wrong when there are so many people making the same mistake recklessly and yet skydiving is worse. Unfortunately I get rather frustrated when people think I’m wrong or just stupid because I have been skydiving. I don’t like when people close their minds to things – I’m not saying they should go skydiving, but they shouldn’t completely shut it down to those who actually care. That’s what I’m saying.

Well, that, and to pay my respects to a man I didn’t know but have a lot of respect and admiration to, by defending something that he was clearly passionate about after doing it 1,000 times, but can’t express his opinion because of a mishap.

So if you want to go skydiving, or have been considering it but are unsure, I highly recommend that you try it out. At least once. It's an amazing experience and one worth feeling, if you ask me.

On a more pleasing note, here is some photographic evidence that I went skydiving. I was surprisingly unfazed by the entire act, despite the fact I only decided to do it all in just twenty minutes (as a form of procrastination from a school assignment). So relaxed was I that the professional jumpers were trying to psyche me out. It didn’t work. They will see me back there again sometime this year.

Skydiving pictures: there are always so flattering!

Medea : Meh-day-a not ‘Media’

So I just went back to my high school, my old haunt, the good ol’ stomping grounds etc., etc. to see a CAD play. CAD (Centre of Artistic Development) is an extracurricular drama class for the really passionate and talented year 11 and 12 drama students. You have to audition to get in, maintain passing grades in both Year 11 and 12, and stay after schools at least several hours throughout the week. They perform two performances each year outside of school hours and require hours upon hours, weeks upon weeks of time and effort.

Now I’m not a drama student; I could have been, but I thought I could never do it justice. Almost every one of my friends, however, are drama students. Some are even pursuing acting as a career path, one is even being sent to California to participate in the World’s Championships of Performing Arts. My best friends were all apart of CAD and I went to every one of their plays and helped out in their rehearsals as much I could. So safe to say I leant my support in this current play despite my friends having all graduated and not actively being involved. I promoted the play on my radio show and man am I glad I did.

The play they performed was the Greek tragedy, Medea, which revolves around Medea, the mother, getting revenge on her husband who has deserted her and their children to marry into the royal family. In the end she kills her husband’s new wife and father-in-law (the princess and king of the land respectively) and her own children as well. It was dark, raw and emotional performance and I was absolutely enthralled by it. The play went for an hour, but it felt like 15, maybe 20 minutes to me. There was a dark sense of humour and drama, my favourite part was actually a cooking segment for how to make poison. There was so much entailed including choreography for dances, interesting/powerful/sometimes even hilarious song choices. The way they moved around the entire stage and into the audience, how they yelled and threw themselves around; not a single person walked away from this play without being absolutely mind blown.

I was majorly impressed with how the start and end of the play took a modern day feel with a video put together featuring news stories of child murders and court trials of the mother culprit and her confessing, with experimental footage of the ocean and atomic bombs and things I can’t even describe to sum up the play and just really enhanced everything.

Alright, so here’s when I stop rambling and talk about the effects of this performance. These kids, with their teachers, put in a huge effort. They were able to get an entire Modelling and Prop Making class to make them props and an art teacher to paint them. Students from past and present worked lighting, footage and music and they got the local radio station (me and my co-workers) to advertise. The actors were spending much time after school practicing for two months straight and were even attending these sessions on Sundays from 9-5. What’s more, half of them are grade 12 students and balance this with assignments. They have their block exams in two weeks from now, too.

And yet despite all this there still seems to be a lack of regard for the arts, particular in the performing arts area. The school is thinking of getting rid of the CAD program. Funding is next to nothing and the students are paying hundreds of dollars each year to be a part of it so that it can stay afloat and they can learn. That seems just wrong to me. Seeing this play tonight you realise there is such talent and all you want is to see more. It makes me angry that Premier Cambell Newman can cut funding to arts like he is. Don’t get me wrong, I think he is doing a good job, but this particular action sends out messages, ones that I had hoped we had moved on from.

In any case, I emplore people to enjoy the arts. Check out your local theatre groups, see what plays are happening, and definitely see what is happening in the schools. They need all the help they can get.

I hope to interview at least one of the teachers who organised this Medea play if not some of the actors themselves on the radio in a couple of weeks. Hopefully I can get my hands on some photos of the event to put up here, too. It was just so good I wish everyone could see it.

My Life Summed Up In One Weekend

Have you ever loved something so much that it becomes your life? Yes? No? Well I have. It might seem a bit odd, but I have dedicated my entire life to the Japanese creation of anime and manga (you might understand that to be Japanese cartoons and comic books, like Pokemon for example). I have been watching such shows since I was born (Cheeze TV was a godsend) and in highschool I was able to put a name to it all and from there my obsession was born. I haven’t looked back since.

Here are some pictures of just parts of my collection:

If you ask me why I like it, well, I could go on for days. I sound strange to some people because I have like an emotional and mental bond with these shows that allow me to see myself and the world clearer and accept it. I’m happiest when I am watching an anime. I’ve learnt a lot from them (my awards in English is all thanks to the influence of anime actually). Even choosing journalism as a career path boils down to this fascination I have. And actually brings me to my real point of this blog.

There is this event called Supanova that happens for one weekend usually once a year in Brisbane. There is another in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Last year there were two put on in Brisbane however, and since it was so popular they have permanently put on a second Queensland show but in the Gold Coast in April, which the inaugural one was this year. This Supanova Expo brings the nerds and the fans together. If you like: Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Twilight, Harry Potter, martial arts films, novels in general, comic books (the classic stuff and the new, like Marvel for example), anime, manga, video games and more than this is the place for you! Quite literally this is a pop culture convention and you know it’s happening when there are thousands of oddly dressed people walking through the streets. Like this:

Last year was amazing because you had stars such as Colin Morgan (from channel 10’s Merlin), Christopher Lloyd (from everything that is good but is perhaps most famous for his role as the Doc in Back to the Future), Val Kilmer (Batman), Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings), Evanna Lynch and Katie Bell (Harry Potter) and many other stars. Perhaps the most famous star was three years ago, Tom Felton who plays Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter.

But this year for me was particularly special because not only was it the first ever Supanova convention at the Gold Coast but I was a volunteer for the first time. It was definitely an amazing experience because I met so many wonderful people, and there were a lot of little perks that I appreciated after standing on my feet for hours on end.

Really though, the highlight was the stars. I meant Wil freakin’ Wheaton who plays the youngest member in Star Trek, Wesley Crusher, plays himself but evil-er in Big Bang Theory, but my personal favourite is the rival hacker to my favourite character and actor in the world in my favourite non-animated show in the world, Chaos, in Leverage. I also met the twins Oliver and James Phelps better known as Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter. I got photos and autographs with both of them. It was awesome ^-^

Some of those aforementioned stars:

   

   

I could honestly go one forever, but my point is that it’s okay to be obsessed with something. I consider this a healthy addiction because it gives me purpose, makes me a better person who tries to understand. And because the people I surround myself with are probably the best type there are. Everything is fun but involves hard work. So if you like something this much, don’t let it take over you, just own it.

Here is a link to a video I made for my Reporting class where I had to report on an event and I of course chose the inaugural Gold Coast Supanova 2012. This’ll give you a good idea of what happens at these things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0zpf9mv65I&feature=youtu.be

If you're interested in attending, check out the Supanova website:

http://www.supanova.com.au//

And see if you can make it to the Brisbane one in November this year!!!

Annotated Bibliography

Heider, D., McCombs, M., Poindexter, P.M., (2005) What The Public Expects of Local News: Views on Public and Traditional Journalism. In Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 82 (4) 952 - 967. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/socscijournals/docview/216935904/136CDD7B0EB5E051680/9?accountid=14723

Combining the knowledge of three highly experienced journalists, professors and authors, this journal discusses the values of journalists and journalism in regards to their consumers; the public. In comparing traditional journalism with the growing industry of public journalism, this journal analyses a multitude of surveys collected to further understand the points of views of the journalists and the readers they are catering to in simple terms of what matters most. A conclusion was reached that public and traditional journalism are entirely different and are developing in separate directions. However, trust in traditional journalism is declining and this in part has to do with its failure to meet expectations of ‘being a good neighbour’: caring about the community, highlighting aspects of it, understanding those within, and offering solutions to the problems – the core values of public journalism. This journal is an amalgamation of many surveys that introduce common factors used to create the journal’s own survey to expand on these findings. Factors such as ethnic groups, age groups, gender, financial backgrounds, educational backgrounds and other aspects in these findings and the effects this has on the reception of the news were heavily considered and calculated. A point was made of this survey being conducted only in a south-west area of the United States and recommendations were put forward for other surveys and further investigations to be undertaken in mind of this. In essence, this journal contained thorough detail, evaluation and deep reflections creating a valuable piece that encourages the merging of journalism with the community.

Norington, B. (2012, May 10) US president Barack Obama backs same-sex marriage ahead of US election. The Australian, retrieved from: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/us-election/us-president-barack-obama-backs-same-sex-marriage-ahead-of-us-election/story-fn95xh4y-1226351575041

This account focuses entirely on the American story of President Barack Obama’s new affirmation in his belief that same-sex marriage should be legalised. The report is straightforward, providing details of events speculated to have induced this announcement, the importance of such a statement by the US President to the gay and lesbian community and how this sentiment falls in with the rest of the country. There are no outright comments or particular indications to bias and the article is balanced with mentions of the opposition in both the presidential election campaign and of the social same-sex marriage debate. In stark contrast to its television and radio counterparts, this newspaper article maintains a basic read with only facts and simple statistics with no comments, besides quotes from the interview with President Obama, or specific mentions of either expert or opposition opinions on the political or social aspects of this historical news.  Meanwhile the other mediums report this same story with references to a minimum of two professionals each to lend support, credibility and extra twists for the public to contemplate. Rather this is a fast production of traditional journalism, with little mind to the community as an audience, a method and form of journalism that is proving to be accepted less and less by the public, according to Heider et.al. 

Kennedy, S. (Reporter) (2012, May 10) Obama comes out in support of same-sex marriage, ABC – AM Radio.

Kennedy’s radio report is a detailed account of President Obama’s comments of supporting same-sex marriage in an on-camera interview. The attention is directed towards the claims that the President was almost forced to voice his own opinion by his Vice President, but overall dictates a rather positive portrayal of the historical announcement. There is primary information with quotes from the President in the headlining interview as well as expert comments from presidential correspondents analysing this move in a political sense and what outcomes can be expected as a result. This is further gathering of evidence apparent also in the television coverage of this same event on Channel 10’s ‘The Project’. However, akin to a mentioned Australian newspaper story, there is no reference tying this news to Australia or the relevance to its audience. This report is concise and informative, but once again lacks the neighbourhood support desired from a majority of the public audience other than a controversial but meaningful topic most individuals seem to have some formulated opinion on.

Obama Comes Out (2012, May 10) The Project – Channel 10 [Television Broadcast]. Sydney, NSW.

A popular show on a major channel, this particular report addressed US President Barack Obama’s declaration of favouring same-sex marriage; a decision that has recorded him into history. The report runs minutes longer than others and takes on two angles. The first is the implications in the US after this announcement and significance of this within the President’s re-election campaign. A Washington editor of the well-known newspaper The Atlantic provides information on both the political and public outcomes due to his experience and access to sources. The second draws the story closer to home through discussing the fallout in Australia and Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s unchanging opinion in opposing same-sex marriage. Another journalist, a columnist for News LTD explains the differences between the US and Australia’s political systems and how, despite the immense support in Australia to allow same-sex couples to marry, there is no obligation for the current government to follow the US President’s example. There is a notable lack of actual political experts in this report, however, which brings some questions into the intent behind the story. But this program is casual in nature and aims to deliver the news and allow for feedback from the audience through social media, a feature of public journalism and one that proves to be increasingly popular. This segment provides similar information as the radio and newspaper but in a simplified manner that is also entertaining for their audience.