Backbencher

Hi all!

The last few days my inbox has been bombarded with grade requests. Here I will have to ask your patience, as I finish entering items into the gradebook. Those of you who have sent me a request...I WILL get back to you, but it will probably be midweek.

A reminder also, that I am keeping my regular office hours this week, if anyone has any questions.

thanks
Jim

In the book Botany Bay Mirages. It tell a story of what happened when people were sent to Botany Bay. They went though some hard times to get there. They would overload ships with these convicts and send them off the the Botany Bay. It was a way to get them out of the country and out of there minds. They showed the figures also of all of the different numbers of prisoners sent over at a givien time. This book showed a great deal on how and why things were started at Botany Bay. With a great amount of people that were flowing into the bay they had to come up with stratagies to keep them alive. They couldn't ship all of there food in, so they would let the convicts grow there food and maybe grow some extra for some income. In the beginning there were alot of people that had starved because of lack of the food. Then there was the small pox epidemic that killed a bunch of people. In this book it shows alot of good facts in the time that Botany Bay founded and how Austalians really came about. It was kinda werid how they would just send people to a foreign land for prison, but British people are kinda werid anyway. This was a easy reader for anyone who wants to know who the beginning residence of Australia are.

In the book the Australian Language there were alot of interesting facts and ideas the they had covered. In the beginning of the book they talked of the flora and fauna that was named strange names that were unique to this land. Such things as kangaroo, kookaburra, billabong, kurrajong, bunyip, wattle, bush Darling Pea, honey ant were some of the things that were named. The natives also had some things that stuck with the langauge also. They talked of the dictonary and how things that were not in it were not the right way to speek according to some people. In this book they also covered the beginning of Australian settlement and the convicts that were sent there. They talked of the landscape and all the the livestock and such things. They talked of the war and how it affected Australia. Back the the language aspect of things there was a few pages of this book that had a thing where it told what thier words meant, which I thought was pretty neat. They talked of some of the native languages also. This was a really interesting book. It pretty much takes everything we learned over the course of this class and sums it up. Its like Australian history in a nutshell. I thought it was a good book and would recomend it to any one who wants to know about how Australia is the way it is.

In the movie Strictly Ballroom, it show a whole different aspect of a way to look at Australia. I thought it was a strange movie and I probably would never watch it again. I was a story about this kid who comes from a family where ballroom dancing is thier main thing that they do. This kid never wins any competions in the beginning, because of a sort of crazy way of dancing. His parents are very disapointed in the ways he is doing things. They want him to dance like a normal ballroom dancer and win competion. They interview alot of different dancer to dance with the kid, but none are good enough. During the time of the interviewing the kid is dancing with some other girl that want to dance his style. When the parents find out about this other girl they are pissed off and tell the girl off. So she leaves and the kid chases her down. They end up at her parents place and she meets the dad and he is pissed off. It seems that there are alot of pissed off people in this movie. He then amplies the crazy way of dancing and goes from there.

I thought this movie was kind of werid. I guess I am not really into the seen of the ballroom dancing competion. Most of this movie was set in Sydney and I thought it showed that really well

Yesterday we had a quest lecture from the University of the Sunshine Coast. Joanne Scott started off talking about the Uni, which I have seen many pictures from recently with a lot of friends studying abroad there. From what I have seen the campus is a very open one, with a lot to do. Scott made a comment about the kangaroo’s that are on the campus, which reminded me of last year when I got an email from a friend telling me that he had to go the hospital because he was attacked by one of them, and I’m not even kidding. He is the one statistic they have about kangaroo attacks.

Other than the campus, Scott discussed the agriculture fair, the Expedition, and all that goes on during it and the progression it has made over time. There were the changes from the merry-go-rounds, to the different side shows, and the competitions throughout the fair. It was funny when she was talking about the old times when there was poop flinging contests of some sort, and how sadly enough they do not have that anymore.

The pictures that Scott in her slideshow made the fair look extremely fun and something that would be rather interesting to go to. It did remind me of the MN state fair, but I think this one would be more of an experience then just seeing bunnies in a cage.

Set in a fictional Australian town called Wirrawee, this book follows a group of six friends through an invasion of their hometown. Ellie, along with her friends Homer, Fiona, Corrie, Kevin, Lee and Robyn decide to go camping in the bush. While they’re gone, they see large numbers of planes flying at night, but think little of it at the time. When they arrive home, they find that their families are gone, there homes abandoned, and their pets and livestock are dead. They decide to break into groups to investigate what has happened and find that there has been an invasion and the locals are being held captive in the town’s show grounds. After a lot of ciaos, the group decides to split up, with half going back to their bush camping spot to hide and form a base camp and the other half going to the show grounds to do some more investigating and see what they’re up against. Along the way they find and pick up an old school mate, Chris, who’s been in hiding the whole time. The group figures they have the choice to stay in the bush an hide, surrender to be with their families, of stay and try to fight. They decide to fight and wage in guerrilla warfare by blowing up a bridge which formed the easiest way into Wirrawee. The book ends with Corrie getting shot and Kevin (her boyfriend) makes a sacrifice to bring her to the hospital (which is being run by the opposition).

This book is the first in a series of seven, so there is much more that happens in their fight for freedom. With this being a fictional book, it didn’t have any exact information that would relate to our studies of Australia and New Zealand, but it did indirectly. There was a lot of use of the Australian vocabulary and at times was a little bit hard to understand. It also paints a vivid picture of the bush and farmland/paddocks. After taking this class and seeing all of Prof. Isern’s pictures from his various travels, I found it much easier to form images in my mind. I would definitely recommend this book. It’s filled with action and a riveting story line.

In our final day of class we got to listen to a lecture by Dr. Joanne Scott from University of Sunshine Coast. Her lecture was titled "Charms, Splendors, and Wonders" and dealt primarily with the Brisbane Exhibition. First she showed us a couple of pictures from Queensland, which included a giant pineapple and one of their campus with kangaroos all over the place. We can relate with these somewhat as we have giant replicas of random things in the United States (my favorite being Tommy the Turtle in Bottineau, ND, which by the way if you have not seen you must, as a giant turtle riding a snowmobile is an experience that is quite unforgettable).
She then went on to explain more about the Brisbane Exhibition, covering why it matters, the first exhibition, tradition and continuity, and aboriginal courts in the 1910s. The first show was in 1876, and included many things that are still in the show today. Some of the categories are cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs. One that is no longer in the show, which Dr. Scott was quite happy about, is the manure competition. Honestly it would still be a good category to be included to be more eco-friendly by finding ways that it could be useful. She showed us a series of photos that were from the very first show, which included a picture of the wooden foot bridge made by a local sawmiller that one first place. The tradition of the Brisbane Exhibition is very apparent, and helps to preserve the rural heritage of Australia. I found this whole lecture to be very interesting because once again it gave us the historical perspective of Australia from an actual Australian.

Another newspaper I looked through this morning was the Grisborne Herald out of New Zealand, and like the other newspapers i have read from the lands down under it was similar in stature to the US newspapers. One thing I did find interesting is an article on the Salvation Army as I did not realize that they had the Salvation Army down there. but probaly the most interesting article I found was one about some hooligans who vandalized a local golf course with their truck by driving it all across the fairways and greens causing a large amount of damage and the amount of money it will cost to fix it is still unknown. Also the vandals are still at large and police are on the look out for them. I guess this hits me pretty close because I am an avid golfer and just wonder why people would ruin a beautful golf course. I guess it goes to show that their are idiotic people everywhere you go. Another interesting thing from this online newspaper was that it had an automatic death and birth update system, that would let you know when some one was born or when they died almost as soon as the news was released, which is a little disconcerting because if you saw your relatives name pop up there all of a sudden what would you think. Overall this was another interesting read for New Zealand.

Matt Liese

"Breaker Morant" is an Australian film based in 1901 and was made in 1980. It is a war movie, the first movie based on war that I have seen during this class. It is about three soldiers Harry "Breaker" Morant, Peter Handcock, and George Witton. The three soldiers are fighting in the South African Boer wars. After a while the three are accused of murdering a six Boer prisoners and sniping a few German missionaries. They begin to go through with the classic court Marshall Sequence. It is up to their defense Major Thomas to save the three men, the only problem is he has one day to ready the defense. Lord Kitchner, who is the governing body over these proceedings, wants to prove that he is willing to take away his own men so that they may resolve this conflict with peace. He claims that the murdering of the prisoner was an n act of revenge. Despite the courts support for a guilty verdict, they have a tough time proving their guilt and the three get off. Today people say things of this nature happened all the time for Australians in English wars. Therefore, there are always anti-British thoughts when it comes to the major world wars of the past. I enjoyed the movie because it was about war. When we think of Australia we do not think of fighting, but this movie does a great job showing the Australian involvement when it is necessary. The film is very well made and it went on to win 10 Australian film awards.

NZherald.co.nz April 29, 2008: As mentioned in previous posts, New Zealand keeps its residents up to date on the latest in scientific research! A revolutionary treatment involving a singular injection at the posterior end of the eye is a pioneering gene therapy trial administered by British scientists that has aided a blind man in once again acquiring his vision! This is very interesting to the scientific community for many reasons, however, it has also given hope to millions of individuals who suffered blindness due to eye diseases! According to the article, this research is being done at the University College London and Moorfields Eye Hospitals, with similar research being conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. This has allow many individuals who had problems navigating in lowlight and dark environments, and after treatment for some has proved slightly to moderately effective! To those who only had slight improvement, they continue to speak its praises because what normal people (with perfect eye sight) may believe only to be a small difference, to that person, it was so much more!! This is a really great story! With the increasing numbers of individuals needing the aid of glasses and the trend of genetic degradation of eyesight through the generations, this could be one of the greatest discoveries that would affect Billions of individuals!

Not many people realize this but the internet connections we have in the United States are some of the slowest in the world, mainly because most Americans are happy with the speed of their connection. I found an article in the New Zealand Herald that says a town called Whangarei will be getting New Zealand's fastest broadband speeds yet with the installation of new fiber optic cable. Other cities in New Zealand are still making use of coaxial copper lines (cable). Speeds up to 1Gbps (Gigabits (billion) per second) are said to be availalable which is insanely fast. My CableOne connection is 3Mbps (Megabits (million) per second). That's almost 1000 TIMES faster! I am so jealous. Change your opinions America! We need faster internet access!

I wouldn't be surprised if Australia's access was just as fast but seriously we are getting into some serious speeds and this is just going to help industries such as BitTorrent, IPTV, and console gaming.

In a somewhat related article, those New Zealanders can now download content from New Zealand's Sky TV network. From what I gathered from the article they will have a lot of movies and tv shows that have been shown on the network. They all use Windows DRM (Digital Rights Management) so they won't work on Mac computers or any other device unless it runs Windows. Very not cool.

It's really exciting seeing this area of the world embracing technology and in some ways even better so than we are.

NZHerald.co.nz May 2, 2008: ESR's National Influenza Centre has an annual influenza surveillance program that last for 23 weeks and begins this week! Volunteer general practitioners have volunteered to participate in the surveillance program! This includes reporting symptoms and diagnoses of influenza influenced individuals, as well as, sending specimens for their collection and testing! The three major laboratories that carry out the survallience screening are located in Auckland, Waikato, and Christchurch! This is very interesting, Ms. Scott mentioned that of the two years that the Ekko was not held was due to an Influenza outbreak, it seems that they are taking the proper percausions to ensure that it does not happen again! Very responsible thing to do for their country!! How long ago was the Influenza outbreak? Is there a huge percentage of individuals affected by this disease??

Once Were Warriors is based on Alan Duff's novel of the same name and tells the story of a current day Maori family dealing with alcoholism and domestic abuse. Jake "the Muss" Heke is an abusive father whose violent nature affects his entire family. Beth, the mother of the family, is also an alcoholic who does little to prevent her husbands abuse. The children of the family are also deeply scarred by their parents lack of control as the oldest son Nig, joins a street gang and "boogie" is already in prison in Borstal. The most tragic figure of the film is the daughter Grace. She is the only child who seems to be attempting to make something of herself but her dreams are cut short when she is raped late one night by her Uncle Bully. Her father has no sympathy for her and as a result she hangs herself. This finally prompts Beth and the rest of the family to leave Jake.

This film was a very sad story but raises some questions in my mind. Is there a situation similar to the one on Native American reservations in the United States where the problem of alcoholism is must higher per capita than the surrounding areas. I wonder if there is a similar problem facing the Maori people in New Zealand. This film could just be a portrait of one families tragic life but i wonder if Alan Duff didnt write the novel and later the film to bring these problems to the attention of the people?

This morning I was able to look through the Australian national newspaper online and noticed some similarities between our papers and theirs. As far as the economy goes they seem to have similar stuggles like us just not to the same extent as we seem to have higher gas prices than they do according to one article. I particullary like an article on Harrison Ford and his new Indiana Jones movie, as I didnt realize that they had that much interest in american movies, albeit parts of the movie were shot in Australia, which may have had some effect on that. The best part I like about any newspaper is the sports section, being a huge sports fan that I am. Now I know we have talked about them being a huge sports nation much like the US, but it really doesnt hit a person how big of a sports nation they are until you see the articles that are written about the sports both nationally and locally, it was surpring to me that rugby is the most popular sport not just nationally but also at the high school level much like football is viewed here in the US. The other thing I noticed in the sports section is that they follow golf just like we do here in the US as well as they always seem to note what Tiger Woods is doing as well and how his recent knee surgery will affect his play as well as other players on the PGA tour. I guess in a way we have very similar interests in ways of life as Australia as noted by our newspapers.

Matt Liese

I was going to do a research paper on William MacDonald, but I had a really hard time finding all the required sources. So here’s some information on Australia's first true serial killer, William "The Mutilator" MacDonald. He was born in Liverpool, England in 1924 and in 1961 moved to Sydney, Australia. William’s first victim was Amos Hurst, who he strangled and beat after the two consumed large amounts of alcohol together. Alfred Greenfield, the second victim, was found in a public bathroom after he had been stabbed over 30 times and had his private parts completely removed from his body. The killer of the two men was dubbed the "Sydney Mutilator." The next two victims, William Cobbin and Frank McLean, were killed in the same fashion. Police thought the Mutilator could've at one point been a surgeon, due to the manor in which the victim’s genitals were removed. Many doctors found themselves under investigation at this time. The fifth victim, James Hackett, would be the one to indirectly catch MacDonald. It was now 1962 and he had opened a deli and was living in the space above it under the name Alan Brennan. At a bar one night, MacDonald met Hackett and the two ended up at MacDonald’s residence where they continued to drink. Hackett was killed in the same way as the others and his body was hidden underneath the shop. MacDonald became paranoid of being caught and fled to Brisbane. When the corpse was discovered three weeks later, it was too decomposed to be identified and the police presumed it to be William MacDonald himself. Around the same time a small memorial service was held, MacDonald fled to New Zealand. He later returned to Sydney when the urge to kill became too strong and ended up running into an old "work mate," John McCarthy, who had been to his funeral service. MacDonald was unaware of the mistake the police made and after having a drink with his confused co-worker, he fled to Melbourne. McCarthy went to the police and when they wouldn’t believe him, he informed a reporter who ran the story titled, "The Case of the Walking Corpse." Police re-examined the body and found stab wounds and mutilated privates matching the past victims. MacDonald was later caught and sentenced to life in prison with strong recommendation to not be released. He is the currently the longest serving inmate in the New South Whales prison system.

Although the details of this subject are gruesome and pretty disgusting, I’ve always found murder mysteries very interesting. With Australia originally being a convict colony, I thought some information on the country's first serial killer would be ironically relevant.

The movie "Picnic at Hanging Rock" is an Australian film made in 1975. It is based in 1900 and it is funny to point out that none of the characters have Australian accents. They sound quite English rather than Australian. The movie is another adaptation from an earlier book. The film is about a boarding school in Australia. The head mistress decides to take the young girls on a picnic out to what is known as hanging rock. She warns them that they are going to camp at the base and not go near the rock because it is too dangerous. Three girls and a teacher decide that they are brave enough and begin climbing the rock. A few hours later the girls simply disappear and no one knows where they have gone. When the girls cannot be found accusations begin to fly. The police are lead to a boy who was camping with his family at the rock that day and they suspect him for the disappearance. Police begin to wonder if these children had been molested and other reasons for them wanting to run away or possibly kill themselves. In the end the town is in an uproar and sorry to spoil it, but no reason is given for the disappearance. I did not like this movie for that reason. They never tell you how the girls vanished. Did they fall down the cliff? Did they run away? Was it something supernatural that did them in? In my opinion the writer simply did not have an answer for the disappearance and that is not good writing. This film would benefit us studying Australia because it shows a Victorian time long before what we have recently been studying.

I am reviewing this movie because it is set in Australia and it’s a great movie to see the landscape and happenings in Australia, so I hope I get credit for this. Anyways the movie is The Proposition. This was a great great movie. I am a huge fan of westerns and this was the first one I have seen that is set in Australia. The film opens with a gunfight between the police and Charlie’s gang (Charlie is played by Guy Pearce). The whole gang is killed except Charlie and his young brother Mikey. The police captain Stanley (played by the awesome Ray Winstone) is intent on taming Australia so him and his wife can live there in peace and justice. He gives Charlie and Mikey a proposition, in order to go free from their crimes Charlie must kill their older brother Arthur, a crazy psycho killer who is known throughout the land. They take Mikey in, and give Charlie nine days to find and kill Arthur or Mikey will be hanged. Now I really don’t want to give to much away cause this is a great movie and everybody should watch it, but along the way on Charlie’s journey you get to see more into the life of captain Stanley and why he is so intent on taming Australia and you get to see into the crazy mind and ways of Arthur and his gang. When they raid the jail that is holding Mikey, that is quite the happening! The ending is quite intense when Arthur and his gang raid the home of captain Stanley. I tell you, I am a huge fan of westerns and this is easily in my top 3 favorite, its that good. Just a great film. CHECK IT OUT!

Authors Neil Nightingale, Jeni Clevers, Hugh Pearson, and Mary Summerill bring aesthic beauty and scientific enrichment together in a harmonious blend in this text!! This was written in 2003, a much more recently updated book that the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a previous post! If you are a student taking Hist 381 looking for an easy read filled with gorgeous photographs depicting the landscape, and animals of Australia and New Zealand, I highly suggest reading this book!! It can be found in the NDSU Library in the HQ196 section!! There were so many good things about this text that I could not possibly list them all, however, I found it very interesting with entertaining and scientific statistics. For example, it states the "part of the coast of Wester Australia receives an average of about 10 hours of sunshine every day, making it one of the sunniest places on the planet!!" I suppose that’s how Australian’s came up with the Sunshine Coast University title! ☺ The topics range from bush burning and natural landscapes to "Magical forests, strange creatures." I do not really have any bad things to say about this book! In fact, it would be a great addition to my Australian and New Zealand collection!!! Again, this would be a great suggestion for students taking this class in the future…it should definitely be on the Book list!

Whale Rider starts off with a pair of twins born to a Maori family in a royal lineage. What happens though is that the boy baby dies, taking the mother with him, and the girl baby lives. The grandfather of the family is so disappointed that he doesn't even acknowledge the fact that Pai, the baby girl, was born. All this causes drama enough for the father to run off away from the family. As Pai grows up she continues to deal with her grandfather's disappointment and her father not really being in her life. She tries her whole life to be the Maori leader that her grandfather so dearly wanted her twin brother to be.

Towards the end of the movie a family of whales, a sacred animal to this village of Maori, beach themselves near the village. The village is so distraught because they cannot help the whales get back into the ocean and they feel that it is a sign that they have let their ancestors down in some way. Pai, in a final attempt to prove herself to her grandfather, is able to get the "mother" whale to reenter the ocean which in turn gives the other whales the motivation to reenter. This effort finally impresses her grandfather and seems to bring the village together in a way it has not been in a long time.

This was a great movie to get a look into Maori culture. You could definitely see a male dominated scene, and the order in which you were born plays a huge role in authority. This is also the second thing that I have encountered that was created by Witi Ihimaera. Both the book I read, Bulibasha, and this movie had the same basic story line, a grandfather disappointed in his family, but touched on different elements concerning this disappointment and the Maori culture.

What is it with Australians and ABBA? Muriel's Wedding soundtrack is pretty much ABBA back-to-back-to-back. Muriel is a woman from small Porpoise Spit, Australia where her absolute number one dream is to get married because all of her "friends" are doing it. Things are looking up for her when she catches the bouquet at a wedding, but unfortunately there are many events yet to come from her. At the same wedding where she caught the bouquet, she is wearing a leopard dress so outrageous and conspicuous, that an employee at the store she shoplifted it from turned her into the police. The police then escorted her home from the wedding to be received by her dad, a politician who is able to bribe the policemen with some beer.

Yesterday we again had a guest lecture, This time from the University of Sunset Coast. Scott's lecture centered on the Brisbane Exhibition which Scott described as an agricultural fair comparable to a state fair here in the United States. Scott explained that she felt that studying the exhibition gave a research a portrait of life in Queensland from the 1870's to the present. Scott spent much of the lecture describing the first exhibition and then how the traditions created back in 1876 have been kept alive until today. She also explained how the Exhibition has changed over the last 130 years. Up until the 1960's "Sideshow Alley" was the home of many displays that would be considered very politically incorrect today, such as a zoo like enclosure where visitors could look at aboriginal people in their "natural state."

This lecture was interesting because Scott obviously loved her research and it came through in the way she talked about the Exhibition. It was also interesting to look at the Exhibit in the way Scott did, as a portrait of life in Queensland over the course of over 130 years. The craftsmanship of the district exhibits was very impressive. The whole concept of the Brisbane exhibition seemed comparable to the World's Fair in the United States except of course the the World's fair never managed to remain operating on the same piece of land since 1876.

I think that it is safe to say that when most people think of a Boomerang, they think of a V-shaped, wooden object that, when thrown, returns to its starting point. This is true, for a small percentage of the boomerangs that exist. When looking at Aboriginal boomerangs, a wide variety exist. They come in many shapes and sizes, as well as offer many different functions. To the Aborigines this was a tool used more so for practicality above all, considering that a single boomerang could offer many functions. Although boomerangs are viewed as a hunting weapon, they have many different uses such as: percussive musical instruments, fire-starters, battle clubs, decoys for hunting waterfowl, and as recreational play toys just to name a few. With a combination of a net, an Aboriginal hunter would throw a boomerang into a flock of birds to scare them to fly upwards, while other hunters would be in the trees above the birds with a net. Boomerangs were also used to hunt larger prey such as Kangaroos and Wallabies. They would throw modified boomerangs that were larger and heavier at these marsupials feet to knock them down. They would also throw them at Emus, aiming at their necks. Tribal boomerangs may have been inscribed and painted with sacred designs meaningful to its holder. Boomerangs today are completely different. They can be made out of composite materials and designed to allow maximum aerodynamics. Competitions are held around the world with various events, such as long distance, accuracy, and trick catches. The current world record for long distance is 238 meters from a single throw.

On Thursday we had the opportunity to have our final lecture even though Professor Isern was not present. We had a guest speaker from the University of Sunshine Coast, Joanne Scott. Ath the beginning she more or less introduced herself and told us a little bit about the campus and the campus lifestyle, i particullarly thought it was funny how kangaroos are viewed on their campus like we veiw squirrels and rabbits on ours, they are just there, but also the Giant pineapple which i guess you could relate to all the Bison statues we have on oue own campus. After that she got into her work on the Brisbane expedition, otherwise know as the Ekka. Which at first sounds nothing like what it is, in fact it is almost similar to a state fair or some other form of annual convention. She stated that the first expedition took place in 1876 and that it has continued to grow each and every year and she had a bunch of antique photos to show how it has changed over the years. She also began to talk about some of the many different foods offered at the expedition and mention something called a Kangaroo Slut, and i couldnt help but laugh, and wonder if thats the name of an Australian Adult Film as well, in a sense i guess it was one of those misconceptions of language between our two countries. But I dont plan on looking any further into that topic. Now with the expedition like Professor Isern had mentioned in the past shows off both the best and worst of Queensland, this paricularly stood out to me when she mentioned that that in the early days aborigines would be on display and people would just stare and throw random things at them as well as yelling insults, which in a sense showed that racism happens every where in the world. Overall I really enjoyed this lecture not only because it was our last class period, but also because it was very intersting.

Matt Liese

About four days ago, the lead story in the Sydney Morning Herald was the ban that had been lifted on duels. Yes, duels. The Queensland Government is trying to modernize the criminal code, so they lifted the ban on duels, granted you still can not challenge a duel upon someone. There also was the end to the Riot Act. This is something that America and individual stats should start looking into. I have heard some amazing laws that are still on book that haven’t been used for ages.

The next article I checked out was about fighting about the “baby bonus” that they are testing. There is a want to raise the birth rate so there will be a bonus of $4,187 per child. This is an extension to what was last past where it was only for stay at home moms, and not as much money. I have never heard of such a thing in America. I think we have a tax right off or something, but paying people to make babies to raise the birth rate, that’s just silly.

The last article was one that was posted today about 800 people facing charges for giving political donations, but not claiming them on their taxes. The people that are being charged are blaming the reporting system, and that it is not their fault that the claiming did not work. Now this sounds like something that would happen in America, and no one can deny it. Something happens all the time where there are big wigs not claiming what they have done, or working their way around the system.

I guess none of this really goes along with the lectures that we have talked about. But, I still find it rather interesting what does go on in Australia, even if I don’t understand it as well.

On April 29, we had a guest lecture from Dr. Troy Whitford, who is the Head of the Department of History at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. One of the main points of his discussion were the misinterpretation of Australia's perception of socialist ethos mentality. Australia's history is actually about the rise of the middle class and the ideas that developed into materialism, entreprenuerialism, and self-reliance.

He pointed out some key historical events such as the settlement and the colony as an open goal where cultural and social values were transferred from Britain. He also talked about the Eureka Stockade where there was a rebellion against taxation.

He went on to discuss Australia in the 1920s when the country became concerned with the creation of wealth and the maintenance of petty capitalism among the population.
"Men, money, and markets," was a post-war formula, developed by Prime Minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce, during this era.

After World War II, Australia's mentality was shaking off the government controls and embracing a new era of consumerism. Home-ownership was stressed as this was connected to the idea that the family constitutes a political constituency.

This was a great discussion about the history of Australia and I learned a great deal about how they country is very pro-consumer and there are a lot of stereotypes which are a result of past events such as the Eureka stockade.

Author Robert Endean wrote Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and it was published in 1982. Although this is a little older than I was originally expecting, it is a very good read for avid scientists, scuba divers, environmental enthusiasts, and the common layman simply interested in the beauties found in off the coast of Australia! What I loved most about his book was the attention to detail in every aspect and the beautiful photographs the various animals that inhabit the Reef! Mr. Endean does a very good job of arranging the photographs of similar species, for example, the mollusks—snails are all grouped on the left page and on the right include the descriptions and major notable characteristics as well as scientific taxa (name) and the similarities it shares with the other animals illustrated on the left page. The thing I did not like mostly the age of the book. Some of the species depicted in the text has since become extinct, which is great if one is doing research on the past and present animals, however, for the scuba diver interested in finding animal from his or her latest dive, may not have the same opinion. I think it would be great if the Hist 381 class could offer at least one lecture dedicated toward the science, in other words, animals and natural resources that are indigenous to Australia and New Zealand, again, as previously stated in previous posts!! I believe it would be interesting for all majors, not only the sciences because of its uniqueness and eye-catching appeal! Would that be possible?? I would not mind helping put together some visual aids for such a lecture!! ☺

Our final lecture was titled "Charms, Splendors, and Wonders." It was given to us from the University of the Sunshine Coast by Dr. J. Scott. Her topic was the history of the Brisbane Exhibition and how it has changed Queensland. When the exhibit first opened in 1876, Dr. Scott revealed that it was miles out of town and that today it is right in the middle of town. There are many arguments over the land by land developers who claim that the land is too profitable to be used only once a year, but many have come together to help save the land and tradition.
Dr. Scott mentioned many of the competitions that took place at the Exhibition, including my favorite, the manure competition, which would yield a first prize of 25 pounds. She also expressed the evolution of the sideshows from the first merry-go-round, to the Aboriginal Courts, to today’s chaotic rides, and nasty eats! Dr. Scott also mentioned the resurrection of some of the lost competitions that are now coming back, like the "Quilts across Queensland Competition", in addition to those that have remained since the beginning, as with the sheep dog trials, etc. Too bad the manure competition isn't back yet! The photos of the first Exhibition were pretty amazing. I can see how someone could get so involved in such a project. I am fascinated with the World’s Fair of 1893.
Overall, the lecture was great, aside from some of the hook-up problems. It seemed as though right when Dr. Scott was going to explain something interesting it would cut out and I would be left with half of a sentence in my notes! Otherwise, outstanding and very informative.

Ten Canoes was an interesting story. Not only did it have incite on the way of Aboriginals but it also told the story in an interesting way, one that has happened and one that is happening. It can be a bit confusing but the black and white and color helps follow along. The first story is about a man Dayindi is out on his first goose egg hunt and learing to make a bark canoe. The man that he is with (can’t remember the name) know that Dayindi wants his wife. During this time Dayindi is told a story of a man just like Dayindi who fancies another’s wife. During this story the man who fancies the others wife, his wife disappeared and he suspects a stranger who has been seen near by. This leads to him killing that man. This leads to tribal rituals and the man who was killed, his relatives get some payback. I won’t give it all away, but this leads to some outcomes and how jealousy can be one’s downfall. It was very interesting to see the tribal rituals of the Aboriginals and how they deal with matters. So you get an interesting glimpse into the lives of Aboriginals. I also liked that you got to see Aboriginals before contact with white men. Also this movie didn’t have much for clothing, so the person in charge of costumes had a relatively easy job, lots of skin in this movie. All in all, a very interesting and entertaining movie.

The Return To Snowy River or The Man From Snowy River II is the continuation of the first movie. This movie is even better than the first one. At the beginning of the movie Jim Craig brings his love, Jess Harrison, up into the mountains to the house that he has built for them. Although Jess’s father still hates Jim and is not happy about her being with him, Jess is right where she wants to be with Jim. During the movie, a horse that has been connected to Jim ends up killing a young man and many people are upset with Jim. Jess gets frustrated because she thinks that the death is on her, and that her decision to be with Jim has caused too many problems. Jess ends up leaving the high country, and goes back to be with her father at their ranch. Jim is obviously not happy, and almost gives up on their relationship, but changes his mind when he gets encouragement from a lady named Darcy in a bar. Jim tracks Jess down, tells her how he feels about her, and in the end of the movie brings her back to the high country to live happily ever after. I really enjoyed watching this movie because the scenery is very beautiful, and the acting is also surprisingly good. Tom Burlinson does a great job playing Jim Craig, and the story ends on a good note, which always makes a person feel better. This was a pretty good movie.

For the Radio Review, I listened to an Australia Talks titled 'Our Place in the World.' This was about what the role of Australia should have, whether or not Australia is a middle power in international diplomacy and whether Australia should try to get a seat on the UN Security Council. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd went to Washington and Beijing in order to promote Australia's role.

There was talk about free trade agreements with China and whether that would be good or not. Prime Minister Rudd knows a lot about Chinese customs and language so he can easily talk to them. He can understand where they are coming from with some of the issues that have been brought up in the government about Tibet. The conversation between China and Australia may be very important to the future of the relationship between these two countries.

The first half of the show is made up of people who are experts in the topic. After hearing their views and what they think about the topic, the show then goes on to callers but also keeps some of the guests to discuss what has been brought up by the caller.

They were also wondering how the United States was going to react to Australia's relationship with China. There was talk about the Olympics and what they thought about the strikes. There was also talk about whether or not Australia should be on the UN Security Council. There was talk about the pros and cons if they made this expensive move.

This radio program showed how people see Australia and what they believe that Australia should do in regards to diplomatic policies. I thought it was very interesting to hear what they think about the United States. They also talked about different leaders from Australia and other countries which was interesting.

Cane Toads an Unnatural History was a movie that I had to check out, from the description Dr. Isern gave us about how weird it was, and because someone in class said there is an episode of The Simpson's that references it. This documentary is about the Cane Toad, which is not native to the country, was introduced to combat the cane beetle which was destroying the sugar cane. One of the reoccurring themes I noticed was the determinations of the toads to reproduce. It was funny and interesting at times to hear the peoples opinions on the toads. I Liked how they took a serious topic like this and made it kind of funny. With no predators the toads over run the place, and they do damage to the landscape, both natural and man made. I thought it was crazy how they showed that the toad would even eat a mouse, and also the scene where the male toad is trying to mate with the road kill toad. Even though it's kind of hard for us, living where we do, to imagine being over run by giant frogs, it's a serious problem for the people in this documentary. By making this an almost "mockumentary," it shows that they can be light hearted about problem that greatly impacted the people. It also goes to show that lots of research needs to be done before introducing a none native species into a new environment, or the effects could be disastrous.

As I was strolling through CNSNews.com, I saw a heading titled: Kyoto 'Flatulence Tax' Plan Causes Turbulence in New Zealand. I had to take a second glance to see if I was reading it correctly. I was. Apparently the government has made a proposal that farmers pay a levy on the flatulence released by their livestock! This all emerged from the Kyoto Protocol which is an international treaty that aims to reduce the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases which scientists believe could be the cause of global warming. The center-left government supports the Kyoto Protocol fully and wants to use the money raised, about $4.9 million a year, to fund research on minimizing the impact that the country's cattle and sheep population is having on the planet's climate. New Zealand differs from most of the countries in this treaty. They do not produce large amounts of CO2 from industrial means, instead they produce lots of methane from the 45 million sheep and 10 million head of cattle, as well as nitrous oxide from their dung and urine. The article had nice statistics of how the US has less than 10 million sheep and China, which seems to be in many of the NZ articles I have read, has more than 290 million sheep. The farmers are in an uproar over this proposal. For one, they will be losing money. Secondly, a small regional newspaper summed up the feeling in an editorial saying, "If it wasn't so downright stupid it would be funny."
At first I thought this was a joke, but as a read further I realized that this is serious business to the farmers of New Zealand. With such a small human population and such a large livestock population, this could be economically stressful on the farmers. I feel that the world is looking at this greenhouse effect problem of global warming in ways that should be redirected. Looking at the world's history climates do change, ice ages come and go, and according to the Discovery Channel, which I watch religiously, industry and livestock aren't even a big problem compared to the thawing of the permafrost in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. The methane gas that will be released from these areas alone with catastrophically increase our climate.

For my book report I read The Kelly Outbreak, 1878-1880: The Geographical Dimension of Social Banditry by author John McQuilton. I chose to read this documentation and analysis of the Kelly Gang outbreak because I found the aspect of social banditry interesting, and Dr. Isern has alluded to the likes of Ned Kelly and his gang multiple times in class.

McQuilton began the first couple chapters by reviewing the history of northeast Victoria, the location of the outbreak, and the conditions he felt led to the outbreak. These chapters covered the rivalry between the rich squattors and poor land selectors and various government programs that opened new lands for selection. These chapters were rather slow, but once McQuilton started reviewing the events of the outbreak, the book became very interesting and a great read.

The whole book is basically an argument to McQuilton's theories on why the outbreak was able to occur and last as long as it did. Once Kelly and his gang of four killed three police at Stringybark Creek, they avoided capture, despite being the primary target of authorities, for 2 years. McQuilton attributes their ability to avoid capture to many factors including the overall incompetence of the police force, the amazing bushranging skills of the gang, and most of all the overwhelming sympathy given to the Kelly Gang by rural Northeastern Victoria. Despite an 8000 pound reward, no one turned in the Kelly Gang.

I found the accounts of the Kelly Gang's invasions the most interesting, especially the portrayal of the infamous leader Ned Kelly. In the three bank robberies, McQuilton sheds light on the gentlemanly nature of Ned Kelly. He socialized with the very people he was robbing, and was comparable to an R-rated Robin Hood. He was a very charismatic character, which made his capture and execution a bit of a letdown.

Lecture 10 was an audio lecture by Manning Clark when he was talking at the National Folkfest in Australia. Now this audio segment seemed to relate to his book we read in a lot of aspects as he tended to talk about Henery Lawson quite a bit, which who we all know by now is one of Clark's favorite people. Yet one thing that stood out to me in this lecture was the energy of his speech and how he seemed so enthusiastic about this subject, whereas in his book, albeit you can only show so much energy with words on paper, was not as interesting. Now even though he was more influential in speaking it did tend to get a little boring at times as he would begin to stick with one part of his speech instead of moving on to the next segment. The other thing I liked about the audio compared to the book was that he didnt tend to get into the same political and religous aspects that tended to make his book tough to read. One thing I did enjoy in this lecture was the songs that were played to breakup a little bit of the monotony of the speech, plus it gave some more insight to just what the Australian culture is all about and how they go about living day by day.

Matt Liese

"The Road to Coorain" is novel written by Jill Ker Conway published in 1993. It is an autobiography about her early life and how the outback shaped her as an adult. Jill moves from her dusty outback home to Sydney where she started her new life in every different way. Not only does she have problems moving away from home, but she goes through the impossible to handle with death of her father. Things do not get any easier, she is constantly reminded of the good times back in the outback from memories is a formidable cause of her depression in her college years. By the time she is 25, she has gone through more than a normal retired person. Things have not been easy for her, but she does keep her head up and moves on. Her mother, Eve, is an alcoholic and forces Jill to go out on her own and live her own life.

Jill was put into a boarding school then a university in the same town. She attended the University of Sydney where after the first year proved to be a very worthy student. The particular subject she loves is history, especially Australian history which she is very good at. Although Jill is an amazing student, she gets rejected from the Department of External Affairs job because of her gender. Jill and her mother then move to England, then she decides to pursue graduate school in the United States.

This book had great moments along with some dull moments. It is somewhat depressing because Jill always seemed to have it rough or barely struggling to get by. From age 11 her father dies, and her mother becomes an alcoholic later in life. Also with that she has to move from the one thing she loves, her outback home, and move to Sydney. Again she finds herself good at school, but gets turned down from her first job because of her gender not her credentials. Other than feeling sorry for her a lot, it does have a good story line and keeps moving as a book. I would rather have seen it with a little happier ending or overall more up beat.

When I realized that I could watch The Man From Snowy River and do a review on it I jumped at the chance. When I was younger my Mom would sit down with my brothers and I and watch this movie. Watching this brought back memories. Anyways, this movie is about an eventual mountain man named Jim Craig. Jim lives far up the mountains, no distance can lessen the love for his girl, Jess Harrison. There is one big problem though, her father hates Jim. I’m going to skip over the boring part of the movie and get to the good part. One night, some of Harrison’s hired men are drunk and they let Patton’s prize colt out of its stable. Towards the end of the movie, Harrison puts together a posse to round up the colt who is running with a group of wild horses up in the mountains. Guess who shows up at the Harrison ranch, when he is not welcome, to help round up the horses. Yep, Jim Craig. All the people chasing the horses don’t know what they are doing, and while they are trying to round up the horses people get hurt and killed. In the end, Jim Craig ends up rounding up the entire group of wild horses, and brings them right down from the high country to the Harrison’s ranch. Old man Harrison tries to give Craig money for the cold, but Craig refuses to take the money and says that he will be back for the other horses he rounded up, and also for Jess, Harrison’s daughter. This movie is pretty cool because it shows the life of someone living in the high country. Jim Craig is rejected by people in the low lands because they say he has lost his mind by living up there so long, but really, Craig is smarter, and a better rancher than all these people could ever be. This is the best movie I watched by far. Kind of reminds me of Jeremiah Johnson, at least a little bit.

NZHerald.co.nz, April 26, 2008: Analysis of a 68-million old protein has been subjected to testing for DNA analysis and has resulted in a significant discovery! Scientists have argued for generations over the origins and relatedness of avians and reptiles. For example, as suggested by some, the dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus rex has many phenotypical (physical attributes) similarities to crocodiles and amphibians…more so than the avian persuasion! This discovery suggest that the avian lineage was more closely linked instead! In other words, although there will continue to be arguments and additional research and tests, it further supports the avian ancestry did in fact branch from the ancestral line at a point in closer proximity to dinosaurs than the reptilian line! The paper continues to report the additional support of skeletal similarities to birds and the intracaces of DNA testing, such as, amino acids and peptides that can potentially provide continued support for their findings. This is very interesting in the field of science! Our instructors continually state that science an ever changing medium depending upon the scientific discoveries of past and present! It is my hope that this will provide additional information on the scientific discoveries being done in New Zealand for our class, and that it is an interesting read!

In her lecture, Professor Joanne Scott tells of the Brisbane Exhibition and all its charms, splendors, and wonders. An agricultural show like this is just one of 600 or so across the country, but it goes beyond that. The eka (sp?) is iconic of Queensland for it displays the very best the state can produce and is a reflection of intrinsic core values.

The first exhibition was held in 1876 just outside the town center. Since then the fair has been held in the same location (much to the ire of property developers) and run by the organization. Only twice was it cancelled, in 1919 and 1942, for reasons of health and respect. Similar to 1919, in 2007 there were warnings of flu and yet still more than a half-million people passed through the gates over the 10 days. This year the organizers expect upwards of 600,000 people.

The exhibits display the expected agricultural-related interests: horses, cows, sheep and sheep dogs, crops, etc. The first incarnation of the fair boasted a manure competition with a grand prize of £25. Not all of the history of the eka is sunshine and daisies. Given the history of race relations in Australia, it should be no surprise that Aborigines were excluded from the early years. Such discrimination, however, is far better than in later years when natives were treated as freaks and curiosities to be viewed.

Currently, the eka is treated as a type of remembrance. This can also be seen in American with state or county fairs. There are games and rides, exhibits, and lovely junk food. It is an establishment that has a rich history will continue. Can someone get me one of those strawberry sundaes?

*Joanne Scott is a professor at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

- Krista Hellman

SO, I turned on ABC National radio, and for some great reason, I have always ended up listening to sports. I hate my life. Today on the sports factor they were talking about Horse breeding restrictions this year and how it is messing up the foe’s that are going to born, and that there is a likely hood that the association might sue because of the lose of profit. Took a good 15 minutes of me listening to discover that there is a virus or some sort that is traveling through horses in the Australia area. So there is a sort of a ban on breeding til they eradicate the issues. They also talked to a man; I couldn’t understand what his name was, about the show horses that are not being allowed to come in or out of the nation. That all competitions have been cancelled from about August to April, and that the training for the equestrian Olympics has been skewed for Australian riders because they were not allowed to compete in the qualification rounds.

I didn’t know that horses were such a huge thing in Australia. Like, there are people that are quitting the equestrian industries because of everything that happened with this flu of some sort. They are starting to try and figure out if they need to change policies now about vaccinations with all animals that are performers, but even though this flu has attacked their horses they don’t want to change the vaccination schedules that they have used in the past.

This is not a story that I really would ever hear in America. Yes, we have had our fair share of Mad Cow disease, but I think everyone took that, and did everything that they could to fix the problem. Not fight new vaccine techniques and knew that there was a problem to take care of. I hope that they get everything figured out, at least for the Horses sake.

The last couple of days I've been reading the Sydney Morning Herald. I find that this publication is much more different than our Fargo Forum. I feel that they get to the facts quicker and don't sugar-coat things so that is more pleasant to the readers.
The first article that caught my interest was titled: "Valentine killer who turned the gun on himself jailed for two years." This was a bizarre case that our court system would have trouble with. Tony Riley was a successful businessman who was active in the community. This all changed when his wife ruined the marriage by infidelity, which caused him to become severely depressed. Last Valentine's Day Tony fired his shotgun at David Glen Nichols point-blank range and then continued to attempt suicide. He suffered severe brain trauma and is now impaired in many ways. Because of the bizarre circumstances he only got two years after pleading guilty. The second article I read was titled: "Ban lifted on duels but the law still rules." This is a bit of a tricky deal. Duels are still permitted however the crimes that follow, such as murder and manslaughter, still face stiff penalties. The third article I read was titled: "Raper of elderly 'liked grey hair'". This was an article about a Melbourne man that has raped two elderly women and exposed himself to many more simply because grey hair is a turn on for him.
My impressions of their paper are similar to national papers in our country in the way that they are firm believers of "If it bleeds it leads," however their information is presented in a different manner. We are so afraid to write certain things, afraid to offend someone, although we are protected by the 1st amendment. I didn't see this while reading the Sydney Morning Press. The facts were straight to the point, as gruesome as they were. I prefer reading news that isn't obscured in a way that bends the truth a little. Reading all these articles about crime may suggest that Australia is still in its convict roots, however you must take into consideration that the news agencies are more apt to printing the critical headlines.

My Brilliant Career was not a brilliant movie. I can say that this was very boring for me. It was an old movie so that lost my interest from the get go and then the story was just boring. Sam Neil did add a little interest but couldn’t save the movie and me boredom. What can I say, My Brilliant Career is about Sybylla, a girl with big dreams of becoming a writer . She lives in the outback with her family. They are struggling from something of a drought and her annoying mother decides that they can’t afford to keep her around anymore cause they can’t afford it. She is sent to her rich grandma’s house where she tries to love. She is forced into an arranged engagement, doesn’t marry him, and then she actually falls in love with another, Harry. She and Harry fall in love, Harry wants her to marry him, she declines and needs find herself more. She then goes and works as a governess for some people cause her father owes them money. She gives up her love for the rich man Harry in order to keep her dream alive. In the end she writes a book and it gets published. Boring. I just didn’t get into this movie. It did have some good shots of how the outback can get pretty crazy with windstorms, and some incite on upper class living. But all in all it was a chore to get through this movie.

"Teen policeman convicted of drink driving." A nineteen year old police constable was pulled over on September 23rd of last year and admitted to having a couple drinks. The young man failed his breathalizer. After failing the breath test he was required to take a blood alcohol test and he had 112 micrograms per liter of blood, the legal limit is 80. He was a Wanganui police officer.
At a hearing he had yesterday he was convicted, disqualified from driving for only six months, and had to pay fines of $525 and a medical fee of $313.
I recently wrote a review about Australian police officers that had been convicted of over drinking on the job. But when I wrote that article I explained I was not shocked about the fact that there were drinking and rebellion issues in Australia. A country based on convicts is bound to have its problems right?
But today when I read this article I WAS shocked. I guessed I never would see something coming out of the country based on everything good and right, planned and perfect. I realize though that the "plan" fell through and New Zealand has just as many "issues" as any other country probably has.
From the outside looking in, only reading these articles, it appears that police officers, the noble and just of the land, have a common issue with too much alcohol.
I'm sure if I looked in to the United States by only reading the News Paper daily I would have some serious confusion about the way the country is run and what goes on there. It was good that an article like this one popped up only days after the other one!

Viewing The Press over a three day period was way better then viewing the news for MN. The front page article for the past couple of days was about a man that had died in a helicopter accident right outside his home. He just had got the helicopter from the shop where it had maintenance performed on it, and turns out something went wrong. The two people that were working on the helicopter were actually sentenced today for manslaughter and charged roughly $35,000 in fines. That fine seems to be a lot smaller than one that you would receive in America.

Another big story for the North Canterbury area is that there is a possible snow and hail storm coming. There were already storms that came through that brought a lot of hail, sleet, and snow. This was funny to read because I never actually thought that they got snow there. It kind of reminds me that it’s not all sun and fun down there.

The last article that I was looking at was one that rather threw me for a loop. The title was cancer takes toll on Maori, Pacific Islanders, it’s insane after a semester of this class I’m turning in the girl who seeks out these articles on national levels because I understand who the people are. The story told that the Maori women are twice as likely as European NZ to die of cancer, and that the European women are twice as likely to live longer with cancer then to just die. They wrote,” Cervical and uterine cancer in women, and stomach and testicular cancers in men being in the top five most common cancers in Maori, but not in non-Maori populations," she said.”

It’s a little scary to see an article like that, but I guess I have read enough about people doing research on cancer rates differing between Native American’s and the rest of the population. It’s just weird you don’t hear this on the world news at night in America like we here about things happening in Europe.

Our final lecture of the year came from the University of Sunshine Coast. Joanne Scott talked to us first about her University and the different opportunities and settings that Sunshine Coast offered.
My favorite part of the lecture came right in the beginning when she talked about the campus and the college life there. It sounded like she really enjoyed her school, and she represented it well. I wish I was an education major or something similar so I could afford the time to study abroad. I wouldnt mind walking around campus with wild kangaroos, as long as they dont attack! And A giant Pineapple, sign me up! :-)
Then Scott talked about some of her work on the Brisbane Exhibition, or the Ekka. At first I was very confused as to why we were receiving a lecture on what appeared to be something very similar to a county fair. Scott continued to discuss the Ekka with great enthusiasm and when she got more in to details about the nature of the Exhibition I began to realize why she was so excited about it.
I enjoyed looking at the old pictures she had found of the Ekka. There is something so amazing about antique photos, just the ability to look back on time and have a glimpse of what it must have been like.
The first exhibition took place in 1876, having many opportunities to win prizes with different entree options. As Scott was explaining these she explained some of them, but when the phrase 'Kangaroo Slut' came up, she passed right over it like we would have an understand of what that was. I still dont know what a Kangaroo Slut, and I'm a little afraid to look it up on the internet!
The Ekka appears to be a great place to get good ice cream, but it is also more than that, like Isern sad, it showcases the best of Queensland, and sometimes shows the worst of it. When scott was talking about how the Ekka used to have Aboriginies on display, people would just stare at them, and throw random things, delighting in the strangeness of the "creatures" in front of them. I was shocked. I couldnt believe they had done that. "Race" issues are very strange.
Overall it was an interesting lecture. It's too bad Isern wasnt there for the last day, that would have been nice!

The past few evenings I have been listening to the Afternoons with Jim Mora show on Radio New Zealand while doing homework. It has been very interesting to listen to this station. It is quite similar to radio stations in the United States since they also discuss the goings on in the country, such as weather, sports and events happening around Australia. A few of the things that they talked about were the possibility of a collection of underground tunnels being used to replace Auckland,s Harbour Bridge, the death of a child who had been playing around a metal stake in the ground that came into contact with a buried power cable, and an overviews of recent rugby matches. It was interesting to listen to their news events because I have no idea where most of the locations are that they talked about.

In addition to news related events, Radio New Zealand also played a variety of music. Jim Mora had a group called The Calico Brothers performing. They were very good and I really enjoyed listening to them. They sang quite a few different songs, some of which they have not released yet. After listening, I may have to find their CD.

I really enjoyed listening to Radio New Zealand. Like I said earlier, it is very similar to our radio stations. The biggest difference is the accent. After a little while of listening I even forgot that I was listening for homework. It was interesting to see how similar radio stations are around the world. I may even have to start listening to Radio New Zealand more often.

Ashleigh Pust

The Manning Clark lecture was somewhat surprising to me. It gave the "grumpy old man" a voice and an attitude. The lecture focused on how Australians need to create their own culture, and not to get caught up in the ways of cynicism. He stated that many of these things are taken mostly from Britain, but also from America. When Australian artists began to see the beauty of their own country, things became clearer for many and an individual identity began to emerge. Throughout his speech, Clark used examples of music to express his point. I found this very interesting, as far as speeches go! It is easy to see how Henry Lawson played a detrimental role in Clark's life.
One thing that has come together for me is that we can see a bit of Clark’s socialistic attitude coming out in his speech that was suggested by Dr. Whitford ("era of greed and titillation culture", and the "loss of faith in human perfectibility"). The later was and is much needed for the endurance of the human race (realist point of view).
Overall, it was nice to hear the speech of a labeled man. It brought to life the "historian lover!"

The first article I read was on a new generator that they are going to install in the Cook Strait. This project is just ridiculous. They are spending 4.5 million for the turbine and the cable they are connecting it to 9 km cable that’s value is 2.3 million. New Zealand has recently issued a plan to have 90% of the country’s energy be renewable by the year 2025. The second article I read was a warning that Mt. Ruapehu may erupt. GNS scientists had been monitoring activity levels at Mt Ruapehu since and eruption last September. Gas output and internal temperature levels had risen to levels outside the norm, but it was not known whether that was a sign of a coming eruption. The third article I read was on a bottle bomber getting sentenced to a little over 2 years of prison. Apparently the man had made a few bombs out of dry ice and soda bottles (with probably some other things that couldn’t be stated the news) and he planted them at a bunch of different places around the town. The bombs ended up only injuring a cleaner.

I really liked to hear about the generators they are installing in the Cook Strait. Since I am graduating as a Power Engineer, these topics seem to interest me more that others. I think it’s crazy how much money the transmission line is for this system. New Zealand doesn’t seem to be the ideal place for wind turbines so in order for them to convert there power to renewable sources they are going to have to try different things to succeed.

The film Whale Rider is filmed in the setting of a Maori village in New Zealand. The movie begins with the birth of Pai and her twin brothers. Since the family is basically a blood line of leaders or chiefs of the Maori tribe, everything thinks that the next leader of their tribe has been born. The hopes of many are wiped away when the mother of the children and her son die soon after the birth. This doesn’t sit too well with people, especially Pai’s grandfather who is devastated because the next leader of the tribe is dead. He treats Pai pretty badly, putting the blame on her form her brothers death. Leadership qualities are shown throughout the movie in Pai, but she is never even considered as a possible leader for the tribe in the future. Since the next chief in line had died, the grandfather decides he needs to find the next leader somehow. He ends up starting a camp that is intended to find the next leader of the camp, and of course, he won’t let Pai join the group. Pai is very stubborn and attempts to join the camp anyways, but her grandfather is still not accepting. Secretly and without anyone knowing, Pai studies the ways of the chief. The name of the movie comes in to the picture when Pai is the only person in the tribe that is able to rescue the whales from the beach where they are stranded nearby. Pai proves to her grandfather and also the tribe that she is able to be a leader in the Maori tribe. This movie was pretty good, and depicted how Maori tradition can be a tough thing to change. I’m sure Pai’s grandfather realized that females where not leaders of the tribe in the past, but his eyes are finally opened when she does some amazing things.

After scanning through the May 2nd issue of the New Zealand Herald, I found a couple of articles that caught my interest in relation to life in NZ and OZ. The first article was about a malnourished boy found in Perth, OZ who weighed 12Kg (which is about 26.5 pounds). Department of Child Protection was tipped-off by someone in the public and Sharlene Kerr, the boy’s guardian, admitted to confining the boy to a cot in a garage. This was so sad to hear about and I couldn’t believe someone could do that to a child. There’s also some early coverage of the NZBio’s annual biotechnology conference in Auckland. The 3-day event is starting today works to find possible improvements in biotechnology research and development. More than 500 people are expected to attend this conference dedicated to an industry involved in human health, agriculture, and industrial applications. Since I am a Biology major, I find advances in technology for this field very important. I also stumbled upon an article discussing “New Zealand Music Month” in Auckland. About 450 gigs will perform over the next month in order to increase exposure for native musicians on TV and radio.

After the recent lecture regarding bush ballads, I was interested to read about modern music and culture of New Zealand. I think that’s a great idea to help promote new artists from all around the country. As we’ve studied the history of Australia and New Zealand, I tend to indirectly view the two nations in the same state as talked about in class: working to catch up with the other more established countries. So without realizing it, I’m still kind of surprised to see that the newspaper there looks exactly like ours.

On April 25th, a story reported on Radio New Zealand called War Stories in Stone; commemorate fallen soldiers that are memorialized in stone on ANZAC day. The report focuses in on two men who have both written books on two small communities around Otago. On man, Doug Makeye researched a war memorial stone that had the name of one man that fought in the Boer War, sixty in World War I and nineteen in World War II. He stated that there were ten people according to a roster, of soldiers in these wars that were not listed on the monument for reasons unknown. It started as a small project and with time, as people found out about it, suggested that he included more people then just the first few that he wanted to research. Another author, Keith Scott started to do research on a family member who had served in New Zealand military. It was after finding thorough records of men from a small town near Otago, which he decided that their story was worth telling. He looked at the question of what was going on in their community during the war. It was the general idea that in such a small community, where all the soldiers had grown up together and knew each other well, that the community would get behind them and support them in a time of war. His research proved otherwise. Conflicts in the community arose but it was the bonding of the soldiers and their lives are patriots for New Zealand that made a different community. Scott's idea behind this book was reintroduce a collective memory of this lost group of men. Like many of the monuments nowadays, they have become pieces of stone and metal that list dates and names but rarely tell the full story. What these two authors are doing in New Zealand is not only honoring past veterans but also giving more meaning to a monument.

NZHerald.co.nz, May 1, 2008: As I am sure some of you know, recently scientists have discovered the remains of many frozen animals in the Antarctic region. Amongst their most recent findings, a giant squid, which has been thawing for three days, has the 4.2 meters long and weighed in at 495kg or 1091.28lbs and if it was alive it would have eyes the size of a beach balls! I suppose you will never look at kalamari the same way again!! Researchers found this particular colossal squid 1800 meters in the icy Ross Sea and originally believed its size to be 10m! Interestingly, the huge eye not only suggests that the animal was very visual, it is now considered the largest eye to ever be recorded in history! With new discoveries being made every day, especially in isolated places such as Antarctica, New Zealand and Australian scientists have a front row seat and the first opportunity to make that discover! Who will get to claim these new animals and fossils, the researchers or the land that it was originally found? As previously mentioned in other posts, we did not have the opportunity to discuss the animal and natural resources that are indigenous to Australia and New Zealand. However, these news articles allow us to view a different side of these two countries in a more scientific perspective!

This lecture was presented by Joanne Scott from the University of the Sunshine Coast. She started out by talking about the college, which started in 1996 and has a group of kangaroos on campus.

Her lecture was called 'Charms, Splendors, and Wonders': A History of the Brisbane Exhibition, also called the Ekka. The exhibition opened in 1876 on a Tuesday and did not end until midnight the next Monday. The schedule included horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, alpacas, samples of manure (the best sample received 25 pounds), wine competitions, and collections of native birds. The exhibition in 1876 was missing fireworks and sideshows. In 1877, they had a merry-go-round and in the 1960s, they had freak shows.

The exhibition has been held every year, except for 2, by the same organization and on the same piece of land. In 1876, the exhibition was outside of town which is close to the center of town today. In the early years, the exhibition was used to show off. Now it is a part of history and heritage. It is also a place with rides, having fun, and making connections between rural and urban Queensland.

There were some ugly elements of the exhibition including Aboriginals. Aboriginals were not included in 1876 because there was still warfare going on. In the 20th century, Aboriginals were a part of the shows. The government wanted to protect and help the Aboriginal people and used the shows to display them. There is a sense of uncertainty on what the Exhibition will be in the future.

I thought this lecture was very interesting. It would have been nice if the sound had been working correctly but it was still very educational. I enjoyed seeing all of the pictures of the campus and the Exhibition.

NZHerald.co.nz, May 2, 2008: The current Prime Minister of Australia, Helen Clark will be making an announcement in Auckland today, May 2, 2008 that over the next five years, a total of $150 Million from government funds will be allocated towards a pharaceutical application that would guard young women against cervical cancer! The drug in question, is suggested to be Gardasil- an American drug that has of late been in many advertisement and suggested by doctors for young women! It was interesting to discover that the suggestion had been under consideration last year, however, the Labour party had decided against funding a drug like Gardasil (which is to prevent HPV-human papilloma virus which is transferred through sexual engagements) because it was thought to send the wrong message to young women…that the government was supporting young women as young as 14 to become sexually active. Huh!! Just because a young woman get the vaccination, which only prevents a very small number of sexual transmitted diseases, does not suggest that that young woman is sexually active but rather being a concerned and responsible young adult who would rather be safe than sorry with her body! Although we discussed the Labour party in class, and the Prime Minister, we did not discuss major medical or scientific developments. However, it is great to see a very strong support coming from Ms. Clark. Since this is only a pre-budget announcement, I hope that the community will be supportive in allowing the government to spend money researching and allow young women the opportunity to protect themselves!

I chose to review Muriel's Wedding, and I kind of regret it. It was actually a really depressing movie even though I though