'Lies', 'Once' and personal clips

Last night I went to see 'Once', I have reviewed it on 'Falling Brick'.
This is a track from the film called 'Lies'.
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This YouTube clip is a scene from the film that particularly touched me. On IMDb I read about the film, it mentioned in the trivia the clip was of the director, John Carney's real girlfriend. This added to the appeal of the film for me. It was a very real and amazing film.

I love to make clips for people I love. I have just finished making one and sent it to Andy in Tasmania. I want to edit it already! Little snippets of our time together through my eyes. He probably hasn't even seen it yet. Lucky he never reads my blog - would blow the surprise.

Last Christmas I made one for Jane and we added a Christmas message to the end of the collage. She lives interstate, so it was fun to do. I love that too. I made one for my Pa's funeral that is particularly special to me. I have promised family members to distribute it to them. I must do that soon.

I started off making them for my homeroom class and giving a copy to each child as a gift for the end of the year. A couple of my year 9s have told me they still watch them and treasure the one I made for them in year 7. They are just really collages of photos and small videos taken with a still camera. The limitation of 30 seconds that my digital camera has, makes for easy editing. I then edit them in Microsoft Movie Maker. As I said, it is a very simple and inexpensive way to give a meaningful gift. Microsoft also have a program called Photo Story, if you only have photos.

This year at school, my digital storytelling class is making a clip for each homeroom. They are doing a great job. Some of them are using Flash and I am getting them to teach me about it as I haven't used it before.

Go Around Twice If You're Happy

Thanks Christopher for this link. Made my day!

Students Today... (a bit of a rant)

This could make you think.....

A Vision of Students Today by Mike Welsh and class


On my school based blog that I recently deleted due to lack of interest from fellow staff members, I had posted The Machine is Using Us. I read today about Mike Welsh's latest clip Information R/evolution on Sultana Blog:Observations on How We've Changed and noticed the clip above.

Granted the students are obviously university students, yet from conversations I have with secondary students (12-16yr old) replace Facebook with Myspace and you would get some similar feedback. I have noticed many of them don't use email as much as we 'grownups' do either. Quite a few students use forums to discuss their gaming and other online interests. They socialise and use their mobiles similarly.

Another good clip on this theme, I had previously posted on that other blog was...

Pay Attention


Youtube is blocked at my school. We have 4 computer labs shared between 22 classes. MP3 players and mobile phones are banned. There are good reasons for this, but I often wish we could harness the positive use of these things. I wish some others got over being scared and listening to the scare campaigns about the latest scary thing that happened online, and learn and be effective for this generation.

Schools aren't protecting students from online threats by excluding the Internet from their education. The one place they could get some leadership and guidance, is largely ignoring online experience.

Sometimes I wonder if the first biro ever brought into a school was used as a weapon and stabbed someone in the eye, would they have been banned across the country? If someone reflected on the amount of times students use paper to make planes and fly them around, thus causing a distraction, should paper be banned? And what about paper cuts? I know I am becoming cynical now, but I'm frustrated.

MSN & Joanna Newsom

Years ago (probably 10) I had MSN and I used it occasionally. I found it a little invasive to be honest. The way it would pop up whenever I logged on to the Internet was kind of annoying. My kids used it a lot, so I stopped altogether and when I got my own laptop, I didn't put it on. It was kind of part of the freedom of having my own computer.
I have re-installed it this week. It's changed. It's great!
Finally now I have friends and people I know on MSN that I can chat to with it. I like that. I am not that much into chatting to random people.

I am loving Joanna Newsom this week. Especially this song:

Bill McDonough

Bill McDonough features in 'The 11th Hour", the new film by Leonardo DiCaprio that is discussed on TED.com blog. He is an architect who is tackling sustainability with intelligent design. TED is a great place to watch amazing thinkers from all over the globe.

"The 11th Hour" Trailer

Leonardo DiCaprio's feature length film "The 11th Hour" will be released August 17th in US. What you see will concern you, in much the same way as 'An Inconvenient Truth' did. This film urges you to Take Action now and there are suggestions for how on the site. Hope is Free. I hope....

Women in Art on YouTube

This clip is amazing. So beautiful. If you go to YouTube, the creator has also made another similar clip on Women in Film. It's mezmerising.

Cows With Guns

On YouTube there is this comment for this video

"An epic musical tale about the great cow revolution. A 6 minute claymation by Guru Animations.
If you like this video please visit www.nescafebigbreak.com.au and vote for michael so we can start up an animation studio."

However when I went there, the link said the nescafe big break is over. I found this link though about a Michael Richards who was an animator, so I hope he won. I like the idea.

Smiling at This Right Now

Today I have felt very tired. It's a bit of a worry, it's only the first week of the term! I found this popular video and it brought a smile to my face and gave me hope for the future, so I have to share it.

Williamstown

Whilst I was in Melbourne, I visited Williamstown for an afternoon. It was busy, yet the landscape and housing are quite different from other areas of inner city Melbourne. This is a little video I took from the point.

Is this real?

I have been reading Martin Strickland's blog 'Combe Martin Life' and have seen some very beautiful and amazing photo's from his part of the world.

This video that is on his blog today is bizarre. I wonder if it's real.


I have been quiet this week due to too much work and not enough play. Not much to say.

Be Here Now

As Mason Jennings so beautifully sings it in this song. I want to try to be here now a little more. I remember when I first heard this song, driving with Andy in a National Park, somewhere between here and Wollongong. My brother Tim, with his awesome music taste had given it to me for Christmas. I really appreciate Tim's music taste and his selections he gives us all for Christmas.

I found my gratitude rock today and used it. It was given to me by some great kids on camp at Tamboritha last year. I had told them about gratitude rocks, so they found this massive rock and wrote "gratitude rock" on it and gave it to me. It always makes me smile and remember.

I had to go to the drs today and whilst I was waiting there was this beautiful baby girl lying in her capsule with her eyes glued on her mother. The mum didn't seem to notice and I remembered when my kids were babies, I wouldn't have noticed either. You could almost see the adoration as a tangible thing coming from that baby girl. It was so beautiful to watch. I was feeling a little stressed at the time and I am sure it totally calmed me to watch this.

Stretch

Wollongong - Returning along the Coast

We spent 8 days travelling down the coast to return home. The beaches were all great and the names have blurred in my memory as it was one after another. We ran out of time to stop at every beach, I think you could take 6 months to make that trip. The coast was also much busier than I expected. The cost of real estate was much higher. There were no sleepy little places. I was longing for one at times as the traffic and crowds distract a bit from the natural beauty of these great places. I am a part of the traffic and the crowd though, so I guess I can't complain.

We spent time in Kiama and checked out the blowhole, and the lookout. We spent our first night there. The next day Andy bought a boogie board and we began looking for appropriate surf for him to 'boogie'. There were so many places I liked and the names I can remember were Mollymook, Jervis Bay, Ulladulla, Husskisson and Stony Beach. There were some great National Parks in among those places also.

I never take as many photo's or clips in the last week. I suppose I get a bit tired of being away from home. We camped a lot also and so didn't always set up the laptop and 'do the photo thing', so it all becomes a blur.

We joined the YHA in Merimbula and stayed there for an enjoyable night. It was awesome to have a massive and well equiped kitchen to cook in. We camped at Narooma and Mallacoota, and a place where this photo was taken. I couldn't believe this caravan park, almost every boat owner seemed to have an old tractor to tow it to the boat ramp. Caravan Parks are like little settlements. People are there for the duration and set up these homes away from home. Some of them looked more permanent and well organised than my home. They each have their own cultures. I personally prefered the ones that didn't have signs telling you what to do and had spacious showers with enough hooks. It's funny the little things that make a difference when you are away from home.

I liked these murals on the side of the public toilet and was impressed that they were so clean and the place they were I can't recall the name of, so if you recognise it I would appreciate you letting me know, because it was my favourite place. The vegetarian cafe there also had this awesome picture for sale and I would have loved it. It was a collage made from sea urchins and star shaped shells. The other thing I really liked about this place was at the beach there were a lot of older people surfing. It was great to see these fit, happy people pull up in the work ute and indulge in a spot of surfing.

I didn't really interact with people, but I did notice how polite and happy people were in the general public. Whilst walking around these places, very few people passed without a cheery 'gidday' paired with a wide open smile. I guess that is what holidays do for us.


Surfers at Mollymook
Kiama Lookout
Pirate Cove

All Wollongong Trip Videos in Revver Collection

Wollongong Trip - Cooma to Nowra

We left Cooma quite late and had to shop for socks at Rivers as Andy hadn't packed enough! We drove to Braidwood for a late lunch in the park and had a stroll down the historic streets there. They had a great display on the local National Parks and Architectural features of the town, which had buildings from many eras.
We headed through Morton National Park on our way to Nowra. It was like driving in the clouds and we stopped and checked out a beautiful waterfall in the late afternoon.

We camped on the river at Nowra and read and had an early night. I was woken a couple of times by young people celebrating New Years Eve, and the next day I waited for the decent hour of morning to arrive before phoning my kids to ensure they had survived the revelry.

Wollongong Trip - Omeo to Jindabyne

At Bairnsdale we found there was no accommodation as the DNRE (Department of Natural Resources & Environment) and the CFA (Country Fire Authority) were in town en masse. We moved on towards Bruthen and finding nothing there either, headed for Omeo. The road was splendid in the afternoon sun and I enjoyed the drive in that open golden light. Gentle, rolling, hills, clear, smokeless sky and bitumen underneath was a respite from concern for me.

Omeo is a beautiful town. I found it quite a surprise. Nestled in these smooth, brown hills with clean distinctive buildings, we found a unique and effective accommodation for the night and enjoyed our brief time there.
Does anyone know what this amazing plant is?
There were lovely plants and I got up early and had breakfast in the local bakery surrounded by CFA brave souls who had also filled that town to protect from the surrounding fires. I read that Omeo had been severely affected by fires in 2003. There were posters on the wall describing the effects of a great firestorm that had ravished the area and then the flooding rains that followed had created harmful environmental consequences as unprotected topsoil had washed into the water supply.
From Omeo we headed towards Jindabyne on an amazing road that passed along the Snowy River. The road that passes through Suggan Buggan is one that has to be experienced to be believed. It is a slender dirt road that winds along a cliff that looks out onto vast treed ranges. There is no room for error on those roads. We stopped at one point to take photos after a few kms, and a weary driver stopped to warn that it seemed to go on forever, he looked tired and concerned and wanted to know how much further he had to go on this road. He had traveled from Queensland and was heading towards Tasmania. I had already began to feel queasy from the height and his stress made a deposit in my mind! Andy remained his usual calm self and loves the challenge and adventure of roads like that.
Entering Jindabyne was majestic. The lake is vast and it is surrounded by mountains. It is quite a big place really although much of the commercial nature was subdued as it was summer and it is the snow that draws the crowds in places like that. We attempted to get a spot at the caravan park, yet it was booked out. We searched for landmarks from the film we had recently seen, ‘Jindabyne’(which I loved and will possibly write about later). We stayed at a ski lodge and it began raining and we were glad we weren’t in the tent.
Road to Omeo
A glimpse of Omeo
The Lookout

Interesting Dirt Road just out of Omeo
Suggan Buggan Road (beginning)

Good Magazine

This video highlights how much is spent on gaining our attention by companies wanting to promote. Big bucks! I love the 'Good Magazine' clips I've seen. I can't seem to get the feed working but when I do, I'll share.

Cloudbursting by Kate Bush

I wish Kate would bring her machine here and make some rain. Our town is drying up. All the people who cut their lawns really short, now have dead lawns. Ours still has a little green because we keep it long and leave the clippings on it, which I think helps to keep the grass alive.
It's less smoky here today though than yesterday. I got a clip of the smoke coming from the nearby hills, but am having some issues with Revver right now so I can't put it up. I will probably put it on Blip TV later tonight if I haven't sorted it out and post it here tomorrow or later.
This blog post Cloudbursting on the blog "Cool Looking Stuff" is a great compilation of clips associated with Kate Bush's great song from the 'Hounds of Love' album, Cloudbusting. There is an interview on the post that explains where she got her inspiration. I just love to learn about the inspiration behind the art. Whatever the art! It truly helps me to learn to draw from my own different sources when I am creating.

Johnny Cash - Hurt

This clip is really good. It makes me think about the big questions. Johnny Cash's music is moving and touches your heart and soul.

Zefrank's Learning Strategies

Zefrank has some seriously good ideas delivered in his usual frank and delightful way. I am a fan.

Interestingly he uses divorced people as a metaphor and after spending a really positive evening with my ex-husband, current family and friends and ex-in-laws last night to celebrate my wonderful 18 year old's birthday, I know it works, interestingly enough. Watch the video, it may make sense. If not - Oh well. It was a great night.