Because if this is who we are… we can be so much better! We need to stir it up!
Because the randomness of where you are born shouldn’t decide if you’re going to see your 5th birthday. 11 million children die every year before they are 5 years old. This is mostly due to easily preventable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles and malaria. 54% of these deaths are attributed to malnutrition. 99% are in the world’s lowest-income countries.
Because the greatest threat in our time is not terrorism! 800 million people are “terrified” about starving to death when they go to bed hungry every night.
Because previous generations have tried and failed to make a world of peace and equality for all of us to enjoy. Now it’s up to us. We have the power, energy and passion to actually Make Poverty History.
I have always been annoyed at the predominance of the objectification of the female form in art. Even today. Not because it is condescending to women but because it is not socially acceptable for the male form to be treated in the same way. People walk down the street with Kate Moss on their shirt or silhouette nudes. It is hard to fathom how the sexualized outline of a male on the mud flaps of a female’s ute would go down. Then if she wound down the window and called out “Give me a piece of that!” to a young man minding his own business on the side of the road? Who knows how people would react?
The female artist Cherry Hood paints image after image of males. These large portraits are mainly the torso and upper half of young boys. She is based in the southern highlands of New South Wales and works in quite a luxurious yet isolated studio. I was reading an article about Hood’s work today in GW magazine and was really irritated that she didn’t paint more of their bodies. It also got under my skin that these works are so controversial, that people often associate them with evil and negative feelings. For example, some people are reminded of their difficult childhoods, while others think of pedophilia.
Half way through the lengthy article I found what I had suspected all along. Hood was actually interested in the male form but there was a reason she didn’t paint it in its entirety. Society places so many restrictions on freedom in the creative arts. Even a friend of mine said to me that she thinks there should be some sort of line where artists just choose to show the pretty aspects of life because sometimes it can be too confrontational and disturbing or upsetting.
Hood had been struck by the fact that nudes in contemporary art referred only to the female nude. She was ridiculed in art class when she asked for a male model, although the teacher did acquiesce.
“In the early ‘90s, Hood held a student exhibition where she copied paintings of naked, pre-pubescent girls from books and added a penis, transforming them into boys. The police closed the exhibition and ordered her to cover the penises with brown paper…
It was so ridiculous. After all the fuss, I decided I didn’t want to make politics, I wanted to make art, so I’d just paint boys’ faces.”
(Hawley, Janet. Good Weekend March 21-23, 2008, p 44)
Is this a cop out? Does it still further the cause of creating a balance between males and females? Is it just a part of art that the audience is reactionary and the artist has the responsibility to deal with the reaction because she or he created the work?
‘Teenage unemployment is still at an unacceptable high of 18.5 per cent and above 20 per
cent in four out of 10 regions across Australia. In one in three regions over the past year
teenage unemployment has actually increased.’
I pulled this out of Labor’s Social Inclusion policy document because it seems to be based on the idea that we should have 100% teenage employment. I wonder about this. Is it appropriate that all people aged 13-19 should be employed? If you are struggling through school, should you be employed or use your time to study and get extra help? If you have other sort of development opportunities, such as volunteering or travel, should you be working instead? If you are caring for your siblings or a parent, should you be working? Should you be allowing yourself to be exploited in the subtle ways most multinational franchises exploit young people, which most adults would never let them get away with?
And I want to even question whether this idea that teenagers should be working is really about some Protestant work-ethic morality, or about pure consumerism, rather than the welfare of young people.
If a young person lives in a family able to economically support her well-being could it be nice and welcome and affirmative that she does not have to go to work. She’ll be working most of her life, why not start as late as possible? Is going to work a moral good compared to not going to work when you are a teenager? Or would it be unfair if some wealthier kids were able not to work while others have to?
Or is it that young people who work therefore buy lots of things and enable retail outlets to pay their staff low wages and treat them like shit?
I did work during my last couple of years of high school for a movie theatre. I liked it because I was managed by a nice young man who let us, you know, talk, relax, and sit down when there was nothing to do and I got to see all movies for free and I didn’t work that many hours per week, with shifts that were only four or five hours. But I would have hated having to work in a supermarket or McDonalds and probably wasn’t old enough to work in an office. I can’t remember why I worked: if I wanted more spending money, if my parents wanted me to, if it was just the thing to do. But if I were to have a child (which I won’t) I think I would encourage her not to work, to give her as much time in life to experience her freedom.
I’d be interested to hear other people’s thoughts on this matter. To work or not to work, that is the teenage question!
Did you know that there are 8.4 million child slaves in the world today? These children are without freedom and are denied the educational opportunities they need to break the cycle of poverty and exploitation.So who is responsible for this injustice? We are. Child slave labour is perpetuated by the consumer choices of young people like you and me - the clothes we wear, the chocolate we eat and the choices we make perpetuate child slavery. But we can change all that.The End Child Slavery movement is made up of thousands of young Australians who are standing up against the injustice of child slavery and making the switch to buy slave free. Join the movement and together our generation can end child slavery.
About a month ago I went to The Venue in Erindale, Canberra to see The Getaway Plan. It was an all ages licensed event. Elora Danan and The Getaway Plan were both late to the venue due to things that happened on their travels their. This meant that they had to spend a long time setting up their equipment while the crowd waited and waited. Anyway, this all culminated in TGP only being able to play several songs before being told that they had to stop because it was ten pm and it would be against the law for them to continue. This is not a joke. Everyone was devastated, both the band and the fans. The singer from TGP, Matthew, came out after they left the stage to speak with the crowd. The sound guy reluctantly, and after much tapping of microphone on Matt’s behalf, turned the sound back on. The crowd received a brief explanation, basically all that I relayed here.
The Getaway Plan have since played a make up all ages show. But not every band can do that.
Do you know what this law is that was spoken of? Is it justified? There are so few all age events, relatively speaking and often the ones that are held are heavily regulated. There are often police. Is this necessary? The shows at Jamison Inn have stopped and now The Venue has taken its place. How long will it be before The Venue won’t host alternative music shows any more?
If you leave your bathroom tap running when you brush your teeth, you waste a tonne of water. Not only in our part of the world is that a big no-no when we currently live with such harsh water restrictions, getting that water to our taps to begin with uses a lot of energy that is just sent straight back down the drain. And since we get energy by burning fossil fuels, by wasting water you’re also contributing to global warming.
The idea behind this video is showing that by doing something as simple as turning off the water while brushing, you can have a big impact on the environment.
Indent, in connection with NSW Youth Week, presents Rock the Royal Easter Show Challenge, an incredible opportunity for one young band to rock out at this year’s show alongside some of Australia’s finest acts including The Vasco Era, Krill, Angela’s Dish and The Hampdens.
For a crack at the prize, bands will have to download an entry pack from the Indent website (www.indent.net.au) and complete a series of tasks based around the 2008 National Youth Week slogan “Shout, Share, Live, Unite’’. Here’s the rundown:
SHOUT: If you ever won an ARIA Award who would you give a SHOUT out to and why?
SHARE: Send us a link to your band’s MySpace so we can hear you rock. If you have a specific track you would like us to hear, make sure you let us know which one it is!
LIVE: Download the PDF of the Indent Super All Ages Crusader (ISAAC) and get a photo with ISAAC and something iconic in your local community - be it place, person or thing.
UNITE: Muster the biggest entourage you can possibly muster and get everybody in a photo with your band. Photos will be posted on the Indent ‘Word of Mouth’ blog.
Entries close 5pm Tuesday, 18 March. Winners will be notified on 20 March, with the victorious band performing in the evening of 28 March at the Youth Stage at The Royal Easter Show. Entries are open to NSW bands only, with members aged 12-25. For more details and to download an entry pack visit www.indent.net.au
Indent is a project of MusicNSW funded through ArtNSW.
So, you’ve taken a year off before uni… to travel or to work and save money so you’re not trying to subsist on measly Austudy payments and handouts from mum and dad.
Or you’re looking to gain some valuable work experience in your area of study - which isn’t a bad idea, as you’ll soon find out if your dream job is really for you. That way, it’s not too late to change your subjects before you start.
We get asked all the time for advice on how to land a job in magazines and what’s involved behind the scenes. I stumbled upon this great article, which provides some important tips on getting that work experience placement/internship, and how to make the most of the opportunity.
Key points include:
apply early - opportunities are snapped up quickly, or consider applying to lesser known publications as they receive fewer applications or have a much shorter waiting list
attention to detail - if you want a career in magazines, few things leave a worse first impression than mistakes in your application
don’t be a no-show - if for some reason you can’t make your placement, give as much notice as possible and save the mag’s staff a huge headache. The media industry is very nepotistic, and you never know when you might deal with these people again
find out about the dress code
see every task you’re given as an opportunity - even the boring ones
after the placement stay in contact - if you’ve proven your worth, you never know when a job opportunity might present itself.
A few things to keep in mind that weren’t mentioned in the article:
online opportunities can be just as valuable as in-office experience - you’ll learn valuable technological skills, hours are much more flexible, you don’t get stuck with the photocopying, and may actually get to do some writing tasks!
research is key - find out as much as you can about the publication you want to work for. Don’t just read the “about” page on their website - try and find a copy of the mag, as the online content is often very different to the printed version.
