Number twenty nine

more COMU1999 photos

Number twenty eight

SPLENDOUR

!!!!!!

I can't go on the Friday or Saturday of Splendour because I have a little rowing crew of grade 9s to coach. But that isn't stopping me from going on the Sunday. And wow is the lineup for just Sunday incredible

the kooks

metric

san cisco

angus stone

blue king brown

yuksek

ball park music

the rubens

the medics

father john misty

gossling

nina las vegas

beni

so excited

Number twenty seven

I think there is something in my genes that draws me to spandex and lycra. I train twice a day wearing lycra rowing suits and bike pants. And when I'm not training, I am forever drawn to leggings. I love leggings. And my most recent leggings discovery is (thanks to the Q Weekend fashion spread from Saturday).....

Ayashii Designs

My goodness they are incredible

Number twenty six- JOUR 1111 Storytelling exercise

JOUR1111- STORYTELLING

The Olympic dream is something only  few people imagine, and even fewer achieve.

Many embark on the journey to ultimate sporting glory, but are plagued with difficulties, hindering them from their goal.

Injury, families, careers; the challenges insurmountable, the sacrifices too great.

But for one remarkable woman, the stresses of injury, demands of a successful career and cries of two young sons, weren’t going to extinguish her burning Olympic desire.

This is the story of Hannah Every-Hall, a woman on a mission.

You wouldn’t be laughed at for mistaking Hannah as Wonder Woman, she fits so neatly into the mould.

As an elite athlete in her early twenties, Hannah always had aspirations to compete at the Olympic games.

After taking up the sport as a uni student, she represented Australia a number of times on the world stage.

In 1999, Hannah won the World Under 23 lightweight double scull and then the Senior World lightweight women’s quad scull in 2002.

As one of the dominating female lightweight rowers, it was the 2004 olympic selection trials, where she became unstuck.

An anaphylactic reaction to her cat led to her being ruled out of finishing the selection trials, ruining her season, and squashing her Olympic dream.

It was at this cross roads in her life, where Hannah decided to take a break from competitive rowing and start a family. In 2006 she gave birth to son Harrison, and son Charlie in 2008.

"I wanted to start a family desperately. My husband and I discussed it and we said if I wanted it bad enough, I would come back after having a couple of children, so obviously I want this pretty badly!"

2009 was the year Hannah came back from her 6 year break, and returned to competitive rowing.

Her debut as an elite rowing mum was at the Australian Rowing Championships in 2010.

She erupted back onto the scene, asserting her former lightweight dominance, taking out the elite womens lightweight single scull title.

Her return to form in 2010 brought  3 state titles, 3 national titles, GOLD at the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, and 4^th place at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand.

In 2011 Hannah once again delivered the results that would set up her run into the Olympic year.

She came away from her national championships campaign with 3 gold, defending the same titles as the previous year, and also winning the highly regarded Victoria Cup for the Interstate women's lightweight quad.

2012 will be the year when dreams come true for Hannah Every-Hall.

In March, she once again defended her national title as lightweight single scull champion, for the third consecutive year, and in April,was named in the Australian rowing team to compete at the London Olympic games.

The dream she has fought so hard for, is finally coming true.

Wonder mum, wonder athlete, wonder woman.

Number twenty five

Up until I heard the line up this morning, Splendour in the Grass wasn't really on my radar for this year.
Until this video.

NOW... I am definitely wanting to go.... and dress exactly the same as this guy...

And this is also my signing out post before I submit the blog for assessment!
To all the markers and cross-markers out there, enjoy reading!

Number twenty four

I've been madly taking rowing photos for my COMU1999 Portfolio...
Using a camera with a really slow shutter speed so some times the light is captured really beautifully, and other times it just doesn't work, at all....

Number twenty three

LECTURE WEEK 7

PUBLIC MEDIA

• what is public media?
• its role in democratic society?
• who are the major players?
• what do they make?
• the various functions of public media
• challenges for public media
• the future for public media

what is public media?

• media whose mission is to serve and engage a public
• less associated with tax payer support
• may make a profit, as long as ultimate aim is to serve public

in a democratic society?

there to support public and democratic processes

public value

should embed a public service ethos

value for licence fee money

weighing public value against market impact

public consultation

public media functions

• nation building
• national heritage
• national identity- who are we, what are we, what are we in terms of our identity
• national conversations- sport

commercialisation of public media?

public media can make a profit, but the profit has to go back into serving the public

ABC commercial- ABC shops, huge operation that makes millions for ABC every year- money that they can put back into programs

The news 'style' of public media

• serious
• broadsheet style (as opposed to tabloid)
• importance over interest
• considered, not quick and unchecked

• downsides?
• boring, elitest, limited interest, poorly presented, out of touch

Robert Richter- public media is important because it is the last bastion of long-form investigative journalism

"such a special vehicle for voices to be heard...visions and viewpoints...ignored by commercial media"

public media communication style:

• 'the press'
• entertainment
• utility
• social
• propaganda

challenges for public media?

• both public and commercial and public media need audiences.
• to produce quality
• to make themselves relevant
• to engage with the democratic process
• to inform the public
• to be independent 

After having the lectures on both commercial and public media, I can now see why the two services are so different, and have to be in order to survive. Commercial media seems to be purely about entertainment factor. Informing the greater population who work hard all day, and want the news fed to them more via TV osmosis, than really sitting down and watching a hard-hitting television report. And for the majority of people this is completely suitable for their needs. Public media it seems, is serving a more educated audience. I'm in no way implying that public media followers are smart than those who watch commercial media, but rather they are the ones to question, and debate, and have semi-argumentative discussions at the family dinner every night on subjects that wouldn't even interest half of us.I like to think I'm a 50/50 viewer. I watch Sunrise in the mornings purely to enjoy the Kochie/Mel banter, but I watch ABC news at 7pm in the evenings. Best of both worlds? 

Number twenty two

Like a version on Friday mornings on triple j is possibly my favorite time of the week. Every Friday, no fail, some incredible artist will jump on the radio and cover the song of another incredible artists. It's a collision of beautiful music makers.

AND I'M SEEING FLORENCE IN MAY!!!!

Number twenty one

Tutorials
Why I do I enjoy tutorials?
Because I come out of them feeling so much more knowledgable about the world, and the stories surrounding us.

In JOUR1111 we 'discuss' a lot.
A few Weeks ago I went into a 1111 tutorial after having just watched the 'make kony famous' video. I thought the guy in the film was a genius. He had spoken out to not only me but millions of people around the world, and educated us on a issue happening right this very moment in Uganda. I came out of that tutorial, however, skeptical. Both Ali and the other students in my tutorial raised points surrounding the whole Facebook Kony hype, and open my eyes to what this guy had set out to achieve with his video, what the actual facts were, and whether this was a valid cause or just another money making scam.
My opinion on the 'make Kony famous' campaign? Is that if all the guy in the video had wanted to do was legitmately just make this Kony character famous, the congratulations, thanks to the power of social media, he succeeded. Butk it was much more than that. Distortion of the truth and the real facts occurred a fair it in the video. Certain information covered up or forgotten, other facts blown completely out of proportion.
JOUR1111 tutorials have taught me to open my eyes. Be aware of what information is being forced down us, and question it, if it doesn't completely add up.

Number twenty

Lecture week six! 

 commercial media

 Media landscape in Australia

What is commercial media?

• Profit driven media production 
• Non government funded 
• Survives/fails on business success 
• Business built around generating audiences 

Major players
News limited, fair fax, APN, Win, southern cross, Telstra, Optus
They produce newspapers, cable tv, film, magazines, books, sports

FORM of commercial media
Subscriptions, sponsored, subsisdised
Commercial media's role in democratic society- can it deliver on both commercial (profit) and social (public trust) functions?


Social responsibiltiy
1. Truthful, comprehensive and intelligent account of days events
2. Forum for exchange of comment and criticism
3. Projection of a representative picture of constituent groups in society
4. Presentation and clarification of the goals and values of society
5. Full access to day's intelligence


To keep commercial media under control there are:

• Formal starts requirements 
• Legal prescription 
• State oversight 
• Statutory 

FUNCTIONS of commercial media
"comment is free, but facts are sacred"

New controls on commercial media 

1. Government agency regulating content 
2. State press subsidies 
3.  Licensed journalism 

STYLE of commercial media

• Dumbing down 
• Tabloidisation 
• 'desire to please' 
• 'Mickey mouse news' 

CHALLENGES that commercial media faces

• advertising revenue for broadcast media is down and falling 
• Fragmenting of audiences- so many radio stations, tv channels to choose from 
• Loss of revenue= less investment= less money for quality production= more 'bought in content'= more repeats of US sitcoms and reality tv. 

What does the FUTURE hold for commercial media
A number of questions can be asked...

• How does commercial media continue to serve advertisers, audiences and public? 
• What kind of audience can be expected? 
• What effect does commercial media have on the practice of journalism and communications? 

To ensure a future, commercial media needs to consider:

• Quality 
• Greater competition 
• Pay walls 

And what is my opinion on commercial media after this lecture? I can't help but feel a strong dislike to commercial media. I feel as though it is tearing apart everything that journalism and communication truly stands for, and covering it up with copious amounts of advertising and tax payer funded reality tv. Maybe I was born in the wrong era, but I would much prefer to be informed with the facts in a simple newspaper article, than have to wade my way throughages and pages of pretty advertising pictures, to find the important stories of the day

Number nineteen

For COMU1999, we have to create a portfolio of photographs that tell a story. My story is rowing, answering the continually asked question, why do you row? Why would you voluntarily wake up so early, in the cold, in the heat, against the elements, when you could just be sleeping? Why would you push your body through such agonising pain? Why? Why? Why? The questioning never stops.
The main reason why I row is because of the beauty of the sport. And it is the beauty, that I am going to capture and present in my portfolio.

Here are some images that I will use as inspiration for the assessment  

Long distance shots- emphasis on the silhouette and pattern of the puddles in the water

Bird-eye shot- highlighting angles and symmetry

Water level shots including puddle, crews and scenery

Fod- highlighting another perspective of the silhouette 

Up close- depicting the finer details of the boat and movements of the rower

Focus- with rowers in foreground and background- racing simulations and intensity

Sunrise- the beauty that rises before us every morning

All photos Felix Dieu