10/28/2006

Interview Martha

今天去採訪Martha Mollison.之前和她去過Mount Tomah的植物園做側寫.今天去她家完成專訪.我一直覺得Martha的個性非常迷人.也許就是因為她是這麼一個people person所以她的community video film making才會這麼的成功.當然,成功的定義每個人都不一樣.對Martha,最佳的回饋應當就是看到自己協助種下的果實真的發芽長大.她的工作性質相當特別,是community video worker,她以接案的方式到各個部落或是社區拍攝並教部落成員們扛起攝影機,學會用自己的話,以自己的perception為部落/社區說故事.當然,這種工作在film making industry算是少數族群,但是我很欣賞她的創意和堅持.
第一次到她家,我也好奇的東看看西看看,她有隻大狗和3隻雞,每天都會下蛋呢!我想大概是free range的關係雞們都心情很好吧:-)房子是她先生設計建造的,廚房有skylight,顯的特別明亮,望出去就是她的花園,除了雞欄之外就是一塊塊的蔬果和藥草園.我們下午吃的蛋糕就是home grown的,蛋是她的雞生的,桑梓是她家桑梓樹結的果.真是自給自足啊.

10/22/2006

The busy weekend

最近家事很多,前幾個星期才參加完韋恩姪子的婚禮,昨天又去參加姪子babe的滿周歲受洗儀式.和天主教的受洗儀式不太一樣.牧師落落長的唸了大概快5頁的宣言,然後頒發證書分別給babe,父母和教父母.
兩方家族都到了不少人,教父,教母和現場的人都一起見證這個babe正式踏入這個世界.儀式是在mittagong的Lake of Alexandra舉行的.當天非常冷.還好我雖然穿著涼涼的洋裝搭了一雙靴子,看到在場的女生都瑟縮的直發抖.Barbeque的火也一直都不大不小的,大概是太冷又太餓,我連吃了3個sausage roll,回程時不停的burping...實在非常討厭.
實在很想趕快回溫,但是之後又一群人去韋恩姪子家.他家的位置真的是前不著村後不搭店.沿路景觀相當棒.和韋恩的房子一樣,姪子家的房子很小但院子很大...老實說有點小亂,不過,大概有了babe後也很難保持整潔吧?從他的廚房望出去可以看到約500公尺遠的下方有另一戶人家, 房子相當漂亮,隱居在此也很不錯.
韋恩的家庭大概真的屬於異數.同班的Eva來自西班牙,她就說像韋恩家這麼緊密的澳洲家庭是極少數的.嗯,我不知該高興還是怎樣,有時真想逃哇!
還好星期天我們去Richmond看航空展,據說每年的Air Show都相當精采.由於展場是當地的air base, 入場前還有數十個軍人駐守檢查背包行李等,氣氛有些些緊張, 大概是因應反恐行動吧.各式aircraft的特技表演都相當不錯.只是其間拖的時間太長了...
說到這裏,不知這是我個人的習性,還是台灣人的民族性,韋恩說我太沒耐性.總是動不動就問, 還有多久才到某某地? 現在在那裏?...等等等等.

10/13/2006

My first sultana cake!

每次到了每個月都會來的那個禮拜,我就會開始頻繁的進出廚房.一下做個三明治,一下烤個吐司,一下吃碗cereal(在晚上十點半),總之就是吃個不停.
今天也不例外,雖然不太舒服,但是韋恩去弟弟家,我又想懶散一下,包完水餃後沒多久,就想想做個蛋糕好了.
食譜是Nop給我的,她上次做carrot cake味道挺不錯,我也想自己來做做蛋糕.
沒想到真的做成了!天啊,我來這裏除了學歷更上一層樓外,廚藝也精進不少也..意想不到
沒想到蛋糕這麼容易做!我和韋恩有時在外面吃個咖啡點心,隨隨便便就500元...嗯,我該在這裏開個35元咖啡店的...

critical thinking媒體識讀

Poynter看到這一篇有關媒體識讀的文章,我覺得其中提到的觀點讓我印象挺深刻的.在讓人眼花撩亂的媒體新聞/評論節目中,怎麼對這些information有自己的critical thinking? 我一直覺得這是台灣較須加油的一環,尤其是在教育單位裏.如果老師自己都沒有這個awareness,老師又怎麼傳達這樣的觀念給孩子? Dr. Roy Peter Clark 在Oprah Winfrey的節目中有一段話我很認同,
“We have to figure out what the world looks like from all these different points of view. This requires skepticism, which is a great democratic virtue, but not cynicism.”

Skepticism和Cynicism,一個是對媒體特質的awareness, 能比較不同立場媒體的報導並做理智的判斷.Cynicism則是犬儒式的質疑,不問證據,不用理智,迴避辯論,很遺憾,台灣似乎較多Cynicism,較少Skepticism. 我很喜歡Dr. Roy Peter Clark對這兩者的詮釋:
A skeptic doubts knowledge. A cynic doubts moral goodness. The cynic says, "All politicians are liars," or "All journalists have a hidden bias." The skeptic says, "That doesn't sound right to me. Show me the evidence."

上學期針對Oprah Winfrey的book club寫了一篇文章,所以對她開始有些較深入的認識.有些人批評她以self-help的方式引導大眾閱讀經典名著其實是將自己的觀點意識輸入大眾的腦袋,名意上是藉著閱讀解放大眾的心靈,實際上仍是一種控制的手段. 我倒覺得這控制大眾思想的工具大概也不差她的book club這一個吧!沒有她的book club,社會大眾是否就免於被無形有形的工具控制?這似乎也是過於簡單化了.

不管對Oprah Winfrey個人的評價如何,她觀察社會現象並創造議題的能力將她和一般脫口秀主持人做了一個分明的切割.以下節錄Dr. Roy Peter Clark在她最近的一個話題-Truth in America的部份內容:
1. Freedom of expression means nothing if you lack the means to express yourself.

2. Recognize the power of framing as a communication device. People may be telling you the truth, but only a part of the truth. They may be framing events to focus on some themes, but not others. In the immigration debate, for example, the "safety of our borders" is a frame, but so is "America opens its arms to immigrants," and so is "there are jobs in America that Americans will not do."

9. A key value of journalism is to make important things (like health care) interesting for the public. Beware of attempts to make interesting things, such as lurid crimes, seem important -- when they are not.

11. Prefer people who want to have a vigorous conversation to those who want to shout at each other.

12. Be not seduced into thinking that every hot-button issue requires to you be on one side or the other. There may be a middle ground. Don't be afraid to be puzzled or uncertain about an issue. It's OK to be working to make up your mind.

10/11/2006

Happy Birthday, Taiwan

As scheduled, I went to the Taiwanes National Day Party last night. I havn't been to any similar occassions before. I don't know any one there, either. While waiting for something to do, I met another girl who immigrated to AU. when she was 12. It's nice to talk Chinese once in a while. I miss the language.

I also met several interesting people that night. Two gentlemen from the hospitality business. One of them lived in Taiwan for three years since 1985. He used to work for the airlines, now he starts his business in AU. Another one is from Hungary, Budapast (is that the right spelling? :-P). We have quite a long chat. The gentleman from Hungary looks a lot like one of the lectures I admire at school. He suggests that I should give him a ring after the party.
hmmmmmmm...
I'd love to. I want to know the possibility of working in the hospitality business here.
However, I still have trouble of deciphering people's real intentions behind the words. As a woman, I love the feeling of being flattered. However, as a person with a partner, accepting this invitation doesn't seem like a good idea.

I also noticed several things in the ceremony. The Director of General doesn't seem like familiar enough with the English script when she made the toast. It is kind of boring and embarassing to hear she pauses several times without proper reasons. I also think they should do more work on how to presenting Taiwan's strength and characters instead of just a luxurious setting.

But then again, it's always easy to criticize. In general, I made the right decision to skip the class and join this party.

10/09/2006

台灣生日快樂

終於渡過開學以來最忙的2個月,我的影片也在今天下午終於編輯好.雖然不甚滿意,但我是新手嘛,對這堂課也不期望得到distinction,倒是有了些點子可以用在日後的教學檔案裏.明天要去參加台北經濟文化辦事處的國慶酒會,我自願去當招待.
感覺有點好笑,以前在國內從沒去參加過任何和國慶有關的event,倒是出國後比較有動機去參與.
諷刺的事,很多有關台灣的事,是來這裏以後才因為大量的閱讀和research 才對自己的原鄉有更深刻的了解.大概也是因為這樣,才在國慶的時候更有感觸吧!
剛剛去search了一下明天要招待的賓客背景資料,嗯,第一次做"receptionist",還挺新鮮的!

10/06/2006

Thredbo滑雪行ski trip



好久沒寫啦!好不容易在2個星期內趕完4份作業,今天終於可以鬆口氣!寫一下前陣子的thredbo滑雪行.
We're very priviledge to make up the last snow in Thredbo. It's not that I havn't seen snow before, but it is truely poetic and refreshing to see snow falling and covering everything in white. This is my very first ski attempt. Before we left for this ski trip organized by our uni gym, Norp told me to be careful since it is a rather dangerous kind of sport.
Well, yes, but luckily I made it back in one piece. :-)
We stayed there for two nights. We were quite shocked when we learned that the accomodation is actually dormitary styled. So Wayne spent another 80 to upgrade us to a double room.
To walk with the ski boots is a funny experience. The boots are so heavy and protective that it is nearly impossible to walk in usual way. Everyone walks like some mobs with legs outwarded in chinese eight (外八字怎麼講啊?).
I had difficulty of stoping and picking myself up in the first day. Luckily it doens't hurt to fell on the snow. Otherwise I'll have some real bad marks on my butts. I've fell for almost 20 times in the first day. At the end I really wish I can just lay there without having to struggle to get up!
But I seemed to pick up the skill a little bit in the afternoon. I can make a small turn when skiing down the hill. I can pick myself up and stop when I want to.
I felt a great sense of achievement for that!
Wayne said skiing is such a difficult sport to learn, so once you pick up the skill, you don't forget that. Good, coz I think i'll try that again somewhere sometime next year!!

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