Vlado Krimpl - Storyteller

By Luke Whitford
Vlado Krimpl has been described as the story teller of our generation, branching from feature films to video clips for popular music stars, but his latest masterpiece is an advertisement for “Triple V Radio”.*

Vlado Krimpl doesn’t express a keen interest in radio per se but when asked why he chose to direct the advertisement for Triple V he said he was “interested in directing and filming anything that tells a story”.

I asked Vlado about what we see in the ad. “The advertisement takes place with a man on his way to work listening to Triple V on his iPod. He is listening to the song “So Excited”, also the slogan for the Triple V.

“He gets into the lift and basically goes crazy singing to the song. At the end another employee walks in looking disgruntled at him”.

So many elements working together in perfect harmony to tell the untold story of a man getting excited before he goes to work; Vlado Krimpl truly is the story teller of our generation.

*Note that this information isn't strictly true; it was written for the purposes of an assignment. However, Vlado really did make a mock commercial for Radio Triple V.

The Afterness

By Brody Mendhem

My major is like a music video, the song is “The Hollow” by Coheed and Cambria.

There is a car crash at the beginning and throughout the short film the main character’s friends and family are ignoring him and acting strange. Then the main character over hears his parents fighting over pulling the plug on him or not. It turns out the main character is in a coma and his soul is just walking around and interacting with the world but no one can see him. His parents pull the plug on him and he exits “the Afterness”.

My major is similar to movies like “the sixth sense” and “ghost”.

"Welcome to the Real World, Gamer"

Detail from a storyboard by Kyle Kelleher.

By Kyle Kelleher
The following is the opening scenes from a video being made as part of the Certificate III in media at Bathurst TAFE in central New South Wales, Australia.

INT. INSIDE GAME (MINECRAFT)
From the point of view of STEVE, a Minecraft character, we see him punching a tree to get wood, putting items into place to make tools, and if he died (e.g. falling in lava) he would respawn either near where he started or at the last bed he slept in.

He continues through this continuing cycle throughout the game, up to the time he builds a portal he believes will take him to another realm called the Nether (the real world’s equivalent of hell or hades).

EXT. REAL WORLD. DAY
He wakes up in the real world, afraid of what he sees. Nothing looks like what he’s used to in his pixelated world.

MINECRAFT PLAYER

where am I...? Huh?

What happened to the world?

It looks so strange…

He looks around to see if he can do anything to help him ‘survive’ in this new world, first by going to try and get some wood.

MINECRAFT PLAYER

hm... maybe if I hit this tree

 I can start my new life here

He taps the tree a few times, but nothing happens.

MINECRAFT PLAYER

well that didn’t work...

maybe I’m not hitting

the tree hard enough

He punches the tree really hard, but nothing happens to the tree. His hand is hurt.

MINECRAFT PLAYER

OW F*** THAT HURT!

He looked around and found some sticks and pebbles/rocks, and tries to arrange them on a table in hopes to make a tool such as a pickaxe, but nothing happens.

MINECRAFT PLAYER

maybe I’m doing it wrong…

He kept trying, but eventually gave up and just put the items in his pocket

INT. RANDOM DARK ROOM

He enters a dark room, but has 1 of his sticks out in case of a monster attack.

MINECRAFT PLAYER

It’s really dark in here.

There better not be any

zombies or skeletons in here

… wait what if there’s

a creeper in here?!

 He randomly swings the stick around, hitting random objects.

EXT. DAY

·         He walks around, getting worried

o   Minecraft player: I have to get. But how can I get home? It’s not possible. But there has to be a way. I really miss home (repeat this a few times)

·         He eventually gives up and tries to jump off a ledge to kill himself and hopefully respawn, but neither happens

o   Minecraft player: what? Why can’t I die?  … wait a minute… am I immortal?!

GLOBAL SHORT FILM CHALLENGE RAISES ECO AWARENESS IN 48 HOURS

By Tom Papas

Registrations for the world’s largest environmental film making challenge are now open.


Developed in Australia, the 48 EcoFilm Challenge invites creative and passionate filmmakers from around the world to devote one weekend to making a short environmentally-focused film about one theme crucial to the health of our planet.

The initiative is supported by NRMA Motoring and Services,

“The EcoFilm Fest has been developing in Parramatta over the past two years. This year, we are going global," says festival director Tom Papas. “We've chosen a theme that impacts everyone in everyday life - sustainable transport”.

The official 48 hour time period begins at 7pm on Friday May 24, in each town or city around the world. Each registered entrant receives by email or text message the randomly allocated elements - subject, character, prop and line of dialogue - that must be included in their four to seven minute film. Filmmakers then write, shoot, edit, produce and begin uploading their EcoFilm by 7pm on Sunday, May 26, 2013.

This year’s judging panel is headed by renowned Hollywood producer Andrew Sugerman, who has been involved in the production of many films over the past thirty years. His latest production is Janis Joplin: ‘Get It While You Can’.

Also gracing the judging panel is Ken Stewart, award winning writer-producer-director, former senior creative marketing executive at Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures.

On Friday July 19 the EcoFilm Awards will celebrate global ecodiversity by screening the EcoFilm finalists at the Riverside Theatres in Parramatta, Australia. There are cash prizes of $12,500, including the $3,000 Parramatta Prize awarded to the film that best "Inspires Change". There will also be a cash prize of $5,000 for the world’s "Best NRMA Motoring and Services EcoFilm".

Tom Papas says: ”This is an exciting initiative which encourages filmmakers of all ages to work together to raise awareness of the challenges transport presents, through very the accessible and entertaining medium of film”.

Registrations are strictly limited and are now open to filmmakers until May 24.

48 Hour Festival Inc, trading as EcoFilm Fest, is a not for profit incorporated association in NSW Australia. It operates under an advisory board of local and international members. The 48 EcoFilm Challenge film initiative was developed to promote the role that film can play in raising global awareness through film. Its vision is to bring together audiences to celebrate global ecodiversity through short films in the largest ecofilm focus across the planet.

Visit www.ecofilmfest.org.

Skype: ecofilm.fest

An eye-opening experience - An interview with Ella Wilkinson

Ella Wilkinson (seated, front) with TAFE journalism students Will Tremain (standing, left) Mark Cowan and Stephanie Rouxel. Photo by Tracy Sorensen.

By Will Tremain

Ella Wilkinson studies journalism locally here in Bathurst at Charles Sturt University. In December 2011, she had the opportunity to visit a place that has had much media attention over the last decade, East Timor. On a family vacation, Ella would travel across where she spent time with the President, José Ramos-Horta, a close friend of Ella’s mother as a result of her journalistic career.

This holiday however, became more of an eye-opening experience that inspired Ella. She now shares her mother’s passion of caring for the country and people of East Timor. Being exposed to their way of life and their standard of living had an impact that she says inspired her to help.

After visiting one of the schools, she is now considering returning to East Timor to teach English. When asked about the community’s reaction to having their children educated, she told us that it varies from town to town, and even family to family. For some East Timorese, the nearest school is three hours away, and their family mightn’t even own transport, but for others, education is a definite priority. According to Ella, the kids that do attend school are committed and eager to learn, and when opportunities of extra-curricular activities present themselves, they take to it without hesitation

When asked about the state of the country, she admits there is a lot of work to be done; most areas don’t even have power as a result of the Indonesian invasion years ago. Ella also mentions that there was some political unrest, as the first election since 2006 will take place soon this year. The election in 2006 ran with riots and much protest, so the country is waiting in anticipation to see how this year’s election will run.

In any case, Ella seems set on returning to help the East Timorese she became so fond of in her travels.

“That’s where I want to be” - Ella Wilkinson on East Timor

Ella Wilkinson (inset) and a photo she took of Balibo in East Timor.

By Stephanie Rouxel

In December 2011, Ella Wilkinson travelled to East Timor for an inspirational holiday and came back with new and flourishing ideas about her future and what she wanted to do.

Her mum (Bathurst Deputy Mayor Tracey Carpenter) had made the trip to East Timor before, working there with a group on rebuilding parts of the bordering towns after the Indonesian invasion ended. The family travelled to East Timor for a holiday, but her mum was determined to make something out of their stay – hoping to inspire and encourage them to do something like her.

Ella and her family, cousin Henry, and some of his friends, left on the 31 December 2011. They travelled many different places, making the most out of their holiday

“My favourites I think were Dili - because it was so different to anything I had seen before, Balibo - because of its amazing history, and Jaco Island – an uninhabited island that had magnificent beaches!” Ella explains.

While staying in Aileu, they made a few small trips with the President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta. The family witnessed some of his meetings and speeches, as Ella’s mother was really good friends with him.

“That’s how we actually started the whole idea of taking a holiday to East Timor,” says Ella. “There aren’t many people who would be wild enough to take a trip to East Timor for the fun of it. We did it because funnily enough, mum knows the president!”

Next they went through Lacluba, the base for the aid project Friends of Laclubar. Ella visited the school which included more than 300 students in the senior school alone, and then to the convent where she was greeted by the children with traditional song and dance performances

Ella says that her favourite part about staying in East Timor, especially the schools, is meeting new people. “I love that everyone has a story, and they most certainly like to tell their stories if you’ll listen,” she laughs.

During the course of her holiday, Ella was inspired just as her mother had hoped, and she definitely wants to travel back to East Timor again when she gets the chance.

“Once I’ve finished my journalism course at CSU I would love to go straight back to East Timor,” explains Ella. “Because over here, everyone says either you can’t get a job or it will be extremely difficult. But over there, they want to give you a job, they want you to teach them things and to learn from you, and they don’t care about your qualification or what you do. That’s where I want to be”.

On time travel

By Trent Sheehan

Good evening! Today I'm going to have a chat to you about time travel and the various ways people have explored the possibility of one day traveling through time, and then the rather humorous appeal of time traveling - the Hollywood take if you will.

But first of all, here is a definition of time travel according to Wikipedia:

Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space, either sending objects (or in some cases just information) backwards in time to some moment before the present, or sending objects forward from the present to the future without the need to experience the intervening period (at least not at the normal rate).

So now that you know the actual definition it is rather self explanatory. Also, many professors have experimented over countless hours on the topic but none more famously than the great Albert Einstien.

According to his theory of relativity a physical universe is defined by the presence of movement, matter and consciousness. The passage of time will differ for objects which move at different velocities through space. So the thought of time travel isn’t that hard to believe when you have collected all the facts.

As we we speak, I bet there are many people still looking into time travel. I personally believe that one day, maybe, it will be possible.

And last of all let's look at the light-heartened way of expressing views on time travel through the cinema. One of the most famous movies, released in 1960, is called The Time Machine. It explores the fear that people had for the subject back in those days. The movie shows weird creatures and a spooky presence.

On the other hand, the movie franchise Back to the Future made time travel sound more appealing and explored its humorous side. Watching the movie made you wish you could go back in time.

So, make up your own mind! I've given you some food for thought so I leave you with it.

Trent Sheehan's Major Work for Cert III Digital Media is a short film about time travel. The photograph of Albert Einstein in 1921 is in the public domain.

Mind your head

Electronic Musician Makes Chaotic Film Debut

Bree Callaughan in Jake Holman's film Mind You.

The year 2010, for Jake Holman – the life force behind the upcoming electronic act Rintoul – sucked. Plain. Simple.

“Apart from death striking my friends every two months,” Jake explains, “the learning environment I was in for music class sent me into depression. What’s the point of learning anything if the teachers don’t encourage you?”

Even outside the classroom, “life as normal people lived it became unattractive; the alcohol made me sick and tasted worse with every mouthful. The parties became noisy, incoherent depictions of the lows of getting wasted, and I got increasingly isolated from those around me by my growing conceptions of it all.”

Retreating to his flat in Orange, NSW, was the worst. “It was a palace, and my mind was chaos. Thoughts going off in all directions, too difficult or impossible to explain, manifesting a cynical, negative edge that was hard to break.”

The Turning Point
Cue 2011. Important changes, such as going on mind-altering medication and switching career paths, were made. And now Jake is “the happiest I’ve been for years,” as he strongly puts it.

“My mind is still the same, chaotic and incoherent, but now I understand it enough to turn it into something which IS coherent. Well, at least enough for people to understand.”

The Interpretation

That something is his debut in film media: Mind You. The film is an aptly-titled ride through the mindscape; exploring aspects of the mind which are impossible to understand, interpreted as film.

“I want to make something which is chaotic, plotless, non-sequitur, like Koyaanisqatsi”, Jake says. “And for music – everyone connects with music – anything I do in Ableton Live 8.” He hints that a track from one of his earlier albums may be a worthy candidate.

“The primary response I want of people when they watch is to be jolted. I want them to feel uncomfortable, and apart from giving them almost nothing to connect to, giving them weird music accentuates the experience.”

“Now I’m still finding film in the media course I’m doing difficult,” Jake explains, “so of course trying to tell a story while figuring out how to work the damn recorder AND edit it could have been a motivation-kill.

“For me it’s all about getting as much random information as possible and turning it into something more random. I know it sounds like a wank, but the only way to retrieve this info is to imitate the manner of the movie: Chaotic. No scripts, no rules, just go along and do something, is the essence.”

The Journey Ahead

On what Jake’s thoughts are for the creative journey ahead: “Of course there are going to be crushing lows trying to convey my idea. There always is, it’s about getting over that and moving on. I’ve done it before. 2010 ain’t here no more. Anything goes.”

http://rintoul.bandcamp.com/

Energy drinks - a sense of reality

By Dylan Holloway
Energy drinks globally have been marketed as performance boosting whilst receiving much criticism from pediatricians and health bodies worldwide. Well I am here to help you get a sense of reality.

Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, head of the pediatrics department at Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, explains that energy drinks can cause seizures, kidney damage and possibly death.

I think it is rather hypocritical that pediatricians can denounce the integrity of energy drinks whilst they make no effort whatsoever to point out the negative effects of everyday vaccines that are given to children. According to the lobby group Australian Vaccination Network, vaccines can cause seizures, kidney damage and possible death.

It is not only this that pediatricians are hiding, but think about the fact that the target of pediatricians is the caffeine and herbal stimulants, e.g. guarana in energy drinks, when they are not even the main health risk associated with energy drinks. According to NaturalNews.com, the real risk is bone loss from phosphoric acid, the neurological side effects of aspartame consumption, and the diabetes caused by drinking liquid sugars.

If pediatricians are so concerned about the health impacts of energy drinks then why do they not even advertise their main concerns? The answer is there is too much pressure from the food industry regarding the safety of such ingredients that are common in all processed products, not just energy drinks e.g. additives, preservatives and various toxic chemicals.

So I ask you, can you trust that pediatricians are right about energy drinks? I say NO! It's time to get a sense of reality.

According to an article in TIME magazine, “a swig of an energy drink works on the brain to keep you inspired and motivated to push on”. Energy drinks do not physically increase your energy but the sugar present in them (not artificial sweeteners) activates pleasure and reward regions in the brain which converts to an increased performance as “the brain controls exercise performance by controlling the neural outflow to the exercising muscles”.

The main concerns with energy drinks are the same as the majority of other processed products on the shelf. At least with energy drinks there is some form of associated benefit.

So there you have it. Next time you’re feeling effete or just plain exhausted and you can’t stop dreaming of some sacchariferous liquid gold to quench your thirst and invigorate your body, look no further than Taursen*, after all it's approved by Tarzan.


*Editor's note: Taursen is an imaginary energy drink created by Dylan Holloway as part of his Cert III Media Major Work. Image copyright Dylan Holloway, all rights reserved.

Are we alone out there?

By Nyssa Hart
Are we alone out there? It is my major work at Bathurst’s TAFE. I am doing Certificate III Media.


Are we alone out there? is a 2.5 minute television show on alien and animals and finding out if the animals on Earth are not from this planet/galaxy? Like the dolphins in the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The book is called So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.

In the book the dolphins come out of the sea on their back fin saying “So long, and thanks for all the fish.” Then they leave Earth. I do not know if that is right because I haven’t read the books but my mum and other people who I know have read the books and have told me that it is from the books.

My mum suggested that I should call my TV show So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish but I like Are we alone out there?

With Are we alone out there? I am going to ask people about the animals they like and if they think that they are aliens. Like a giraffe with its tongue that is bluish-purple so it can eat the leaves on the top of the Acacia trees in the African sun.

I will also ask about other animals like monkeys, dogs, cats and fish.

Close encounters of the geeky kind

By Craig Nimmo
I sit at my laptop mouse in hand browsing through alien encounters on the internet the silence almost inviting the sound of a UFO landing outside to break it up. I snap out of that delusion but look to the window expecting a bright light of an alien spaceship anyway.

My name is Craig Nimmo and I am currently studying Certificate III in Multimedia. Aliens love them, hate them or just plain don’t believe in the fact is they are a big part of fiction as well as investigation. From the Rosewell incident of 1947 to the abduction of Betty and Barney Hill in 1961 detailed in the Project Blue Book files. Why do they come here in the first place? Are they interstellar tourists, explorers or just lost and wanting directions home? If they wanted to make contact why don’t they go straight to the top? Are they just shy or is it all just a plot by the government to cover up of something even bigger?

In the new film Paul they make use of the classic grey alien, a benign gentle fellow which is a big contrast to the aliens from 1996’s Dark Skies Series with the enigmatic Majestic 12. So are they just a product of an overactive imagination or reality yet to be proven true. The answer to this lies in the future. So if you’re a believer or not it’s always best to keep an open mind as was often quoted in ‘the X-files’, the truth is out there.

Grey alien (at top) embedded from http://www.trueghosttales.com/img/alien-grey.jpg

Mordy graphic (at bottom) created by Craig Nimmo, all rights reserved.

ask the price

By David Hobman
The flash of the lighter leaves a momentary flare in my eyes as I blink. The grating sound of the striker drawn across the flint creating fire, giving a subconscious primal satisfaction. The red orange and yellow flame dances in front of my eyes for a moment before I bring it up to gently kiss my cigarette. The pleasing sound of snapping and crackling as the tobacco burns comes softly to my ear as I draw on the cigarette. Inhaling deeply to appease and silence the screaming demons of addiction pulling on their barbed threads woven deeply in to my mind. Exhaling smoke, momentarily distracted by the forms the smoke takes curling into the air, some dropping like sand dropped into water, more snaking up in tendrils, dissipating, not seen again.

The red eye burns angrily as I pull another lung full of smoke into my body further quieting the habit that in truth is suicide, a slow suicide. Denial comes forward in my mind as I tell myself I will quit before it gets me. It’s heavily tinged with a gut feeling louder now after years of protest. It says “No you won’t“ and asks: Is it already too late? Then it shouts “Weak fool,” before being stifled by another lungful of cigarette smoke. The red eye taking on a disconcerting glare, the once snow-white paper now stained with ugly yellow brown nicotine veins running down the cigarette toward me, ever closer with every drawing of the now-bitter smoke.

As my suicide weapon burns past half-way, the taste of the smoke that at first was craved has become the very flavour of death itself. Rejected by mouth and lung, heavy in my stomach... and yet I smoke on to remain staunch in my habit, in my addiction, in my weakness and foolishness. I again drag in another lungful of smoke, committing suicide for reasons I’ve forgotten, reasons a boy once had, that for him were real and good maybe even important. Picking up the packet, handing coin to a man, but never asking the price. Now the boy has gone and his reasons with him. The price has become all too clear as I stub out another cigarette.

Image copyright David Hobman, all rights reserved.

The Future is Now

The Future is Now: e-books and bookselling in Australia
hosted by the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA)
by Lyn Oxley

On 31 August 2010, I attended a one day seminar held in Sydney about the impact of digitisation on traditional bookshops. Len Vlahos, keynote speaker and Chief Operating Officer of the American Booksellers Association, discussed the role and opportunities there are for American traditional retailers in the new digital market.

Background
He advised traditional booksellers did not want to go the way the music industry did while Napster was in operation. Napster, a free music download website, operated from 2003-2008 before being successfully sued by the music industry and closed down. During Napster’s five year reign, over 2,700 record stores across the USA went out of business.

Strategies Available to Bookshops
Vlahos examined strategies available to American bookshops to adjust to the digital age. These included selling children’s clothing and/or gifts alongside books and ‘bundling’ traditional books with e-book versions.

Currently Australian independent booksellers are locked out of selling e-books due to the dominance of internet heavies such as Amazon and Apple, and may need to consider partnering with publishers to develop exclusive digital opportunities. This may prove rewarding with the current push for consumers to support their local community.

Independent Booksellers are not the only ones at risk: The parent of Borders and Angus and Robertson Redgroup Retail went into voluntary administration recently.

Twenty-five franchisees have since cut ties with the parent group. Speaking on Prime 7 News on April 5, Orange-based franchisee, Ashley Brown of the newly independent Ash’s Books, blamed years of bad management.

Reasons for Selling E-books
Selling e-books is a requirement if traditional booksellers are to survive. Vlahos’ evidence has been succinctly put by Angelo Loukakis, Executive Director, Australian Society of Authors in the ASA Newsletter in October 2010.

1. Where once people looked first to newspapers and magazines, libraries and phone books for information, they now look first online.
2. The next generation of readers and consumers are already using digital content; they simply do not access information through the traditional means.
3. There is now very widespread broadband internet connectivity, with spread and capacity increasing each day.
4. Mobile access to digital content is everywhere.
5. The ePub file format has been adopted as an industry e-book standard.

Overall, the seminar was highly informative and professionally co-ordinated. Well done, ABA!

The original image in this post was created by Lyn Oxley in Illustrator and exported as a .png file. Copyright Lyn Oxley, all rights reserved. Lyn is currrently studying Cert III in Digital Media at Bathurst TAFE.

Spirit Bound Released

By Louise Burge
Spirit Bound was released on May 18, something I completely forgot about. So I’m very excited about the release and am looking forward to buying it on Monday, which is the next time I receive my Youth Allowance.

I’ve loved the Vampire Academy series since I first started reading it, and I’ve now read the entire series cover to cover. I’ve been awaiting the release of this book since finishing Blood Promise a few weeks ago. There were so many questions left unanswered in Blood Promise- will Rose help Dimitri turn dhampir again? Is there truly a cure for Strigoi? And if so, will Rose give the cure to Dimitri before he kills her?

Of course, not all the questions are concerning Rose and Dimitri. Some questions concern the other characters, such as Lissa, Christian and Adrian. Christian and Lissa broke up at the end of Blood Promise, and many people are itching to know if they get back together or not.

But not much can be said without spoiling the plot of the whole series so far. If you don’t mind spoilers, continue reading. If you do, stop reading now and race out to read the series.

In the first chapter of Spirit Bound, which is available for viewing on Richelle Mead’s official website http://www.richellemead.com/books/vampireacademy.htm Rose is about to take part in the trial to become a guardian. She wants to become Lissa’s guardian, protecting the Moroi princess from the evil Strigoi lurking outside the Academy grounds. This has been a theme all through the series, of Rose wanting desperately to become Lissa’s guardian.

If anyone has read Spirit Bound, please do not hesitate to leave a review about it. I so badly want to read it, but can’t until Monday. If I happen to buy and read the book before my next update on Wednesday, the next update will be my review of the book.

For now, though, the library is closing so I must bring my entry to a close. Happy reading and I hope to entertain you all next week with my review of the book or an entry on the Raglan markets.

What to look forward to

By Casey Macpherson

Bathurst TAFE showcase, December 3
Today we met with Paul Basha, a Cert 4 Multimedia student from TAFE Bathurst Campus. Paul is one of the students who will have work shown at the showcase. His short film is based on his Lebanese background, an attempt to show his culture in a much different light to how we know it from the media.

After being sat in front of our TVET Media class, he opened himself up to an array of difficult and some slightly intrusive questions on his opinions on the stereotypes and racism aimed at Lebanese people in Australia. From this I can tell you that he is an easy going guy who believes the minority let down the majority when it comes to setting an image of the Lebanese. He thinks the media presents stories in a predetermined way, but he isn't resentful, stating “It’s their job to twist stories”.

He is not a "fully-sick, doof-doof Leb", but a Multimedia student with a different approach. You can see his film at the Bathurst TAFE campus on December 3, alongside the work of many other TAFE students. All are welcome so come along and enjoy the variety of work from a variety of people.

New film confronts stereotypes - by Fran Vinall

Paul Basha is a 19-ish TAFE student filming a 5-8 minute movie for his class. He’s all smiles, attempting to coax conversation out of our awkwardly silent class, while our teacher runs around printing various things off. His friends stand in the corner, filming this interview, and they joke around, relaxed. "Are you a terrorist?" one mockingly asks Paul, who laughs heartily. Oh, and Paul is Lebanese. Don’t worry though, this isn’t going to be another "What is the problem with our Middle Eastern youth?" paranoia-infested article. Quite the opposite, in fact. Paul is filming a movie about his Lebanese family, in an attempt to disprove the prevalent all-Lebs-are-violent stereotype running rampant in Australia’s media.

The stereotype of the aggressive Lebanese gang has been around for a while, long before the Cronulla riots, but it was the riots which really sparked things up. It would be a hot day in July when the newspapers don’t present some story or another about a crime committed by someone of "Middle Eastern appearance." Yet when the perpetrator is Caucasian, his description of race in the papers goes mysteriously missing. There is a problem in many Sydney suburbs, with the Lebanese demographic being worryingly overrepresented in crime, yet the problem, caused by the media, is that this results in people assuming all Lebanese people are out to get you. Which, when you look at people like Paul, is obviously not the case. As he puts it, "There are some who ruin it for the rest of us, who are honest and hardworking." He maintains he and his family are not the "fully sick ones with the doof doof music."

Paul’s grandparents migrated to Australia before the civil war began tearing Lebanon apart. They moved because they wanted a change: "To raise the family in a non-third world country was probably good," says Paul. Paul himself wants one day to visit Lebanon, calling it the "Paris of the Middle East."

"It’s a very picturesque country," he says – but don’t worry, he has his priorities straight, citing the food as a good reason for visiting his grandparents homeland.

Paul believes the stereotyping of Lebanese in the media is due to a bad attitude by the media – they must have a story in their minds before they go out there, he says. A fair point, and somewhat true – journalists are often told their angle before they go to investigate a news item. How many times do you think one has been told, oh, it’s a Lebanese crime, go for that? He also says that his culture is an easy target, especially after the neurosis-inducing riots.

Paul himself has been relatively free from racism growing up – he attended Stannies (St. Stanislaus College) in Bathurst, and says he only ever received anything race orientated from friends, as a joke. Still, sometimes people will ask him where he’s from, and when he replies that he’s Lebanese, the reactions can be starkly different. The majority will be cool with it, but there are the occasional bad apples who will treat him with him a disdainful "oh," and walk away. "Sometimes it’s ok to say you’re Lebanese, but sometimes you’re ashamed," he says. "Most of the time, I’m ok with it." Since he is generation Y, Paul believes he has escaped much of the racism of earlier times. His uncles and grandparents however, received some trouble fitting in in a new country. "Too Aussie to be Lebanese, too Lebanese to be Aussie," Paul says.

His movie is a documentary about his family and Lebanese culture, which he has been working on for about a term. His migrant grandparents will be a particular focus of the movie. "I wanted to do something completely different," says Paul. The movie can be viewed on December 3, 2009 at the TAF Campus on Panorama Avenue, Bathurst, as part of the Bathurst Information, Arts and Technology Showcase.

Every country has its idiots - by Nick Wade

Today we were given the opportunity of interviewing Paul Basha on the subject of his short film which is currently in production. Paul’s film deals with the sensitive issue of racial stereotyping in Australia, in particular towards the Lebanese culture and people. Now before you turn away or stop reading thinking to yourself “yes, yes I’ve heard it all before”, what separates Paul from the rest of the drab crowd who constantly whine and bicker about racism is that Paul makes some damn fine points.

The point that hits closest to home for me is his reference to the minorities and basically how they are the root of all negative stereotyping. I can easily relate to this because when the world looks at Australia what do they see? They see middle aged men with beer guts and sausage stained singlets living in the middle of the desert and keeping kangaroos as pets. How many of us are actually like this? This was Paul’s main point, that because some drongos in Sydney with too much testosterone sparked a riot and because America is at war with the Middle East does this make every Lebanese person within Australia a criminal? His exact words were: “It’s the minorities ruining it for the majority.”

I can sympathise with this point of view as I’m sick to death of tourists coming to Australia and being disappointed that I don’t know how to surf, I don’t have a tan and of course most shocking I don’t have a pet kangaroo.

Of course for an interview it wasn’t actually what was being said that sold Paul's case for me, it was the fact that Paul entered with his two mates laughing and joking being able to talk about the sensitive issues calmly and with good humour. When asked, “What in your opinion is the biggest difference between Australia and Lebanon?” he was unable to think of an answer but instead gave similarities between the two saying “they are good people, easy going”.

While I don’t doubt there are Lebanese people out there who I wouldn’t understand and wouldn’t particularly get along with I’m certain there are just as many Australians that fit into the same category. At the end of the day Paul's point is that every country has its idiots and we have to all try our best to not them tarnish our nationality's reputation. This is what Paul's film aims to do and can be viewed on the 3rd of December at the TAFE Showcase.

Newspaper extinction - how sad

By Chelsie Webster

I just read an article that claimed conventional media such as newspapers and magazines will be "dead", as technology is taking over, and people are turning to reading the news online, blogging and of COURSE the awesome twitter updates - LOL!

Yeah, maybe. I don't really know how to respond to this. Lets face it - Australians are bloody lazy. I don't know many people who leap out of bed at 6am to go fetch the paper to be read over brekky. Okay, so maybe we get it delivered now - but I haven't put much faith in the deranged man who drives that crappy little red car around Bathurst, hurling the paper at targets. Personally, I read the paper - 3 kinds of paper. The Blayney Chronicle which is of course an exciting read, the Daily Telegraph for all things sport only, and the Western Advocate for laughs.

So the internet is a great place to access blogs - but blogs don't have the facts, and newspaper stories are most of the time 70% fact. How do we know that some random nobody blogger is telling the truth? Television has been around for a long time, if we wanted to get rid of newspapers, we would of decades ago when we started accessing the news on television. I don't believe that newspapers are going to go "extinct", many people love to read the paper or magazine of a coffee during their lunch break. No blog or internet will ever replace that.

But once again, I really don't care. As long as the TV is feeding me my sport news, I wouldn't care if the paper went extinct. But then again...how would we get the tab guide?

Kyle at it again! Chelsie Webster

I'm sure you've already heard. And if you were unfortunate enough to hear it live on air, then I think you're an idiot for listening to Kyle Sandilands in the first place. Naturally, Kyle has obviously become bored with his miserable, greasy life, and has decided to bring down the hard efforts of Magda Szubanski's weight loss, by saying she could lose more weight in a concentration camp. I must admit, he's really outdone himself this time. Not only offending one person, but the survivors of Hitler's concentration camps, any Jew, Jewish group, families of those who died in the concentration camps...oh the list goes on! Well done Kyle! You've successfully managed to get the whole population of Australia to vomit in our mouths a little.

But I must think to myself...does Kyle sit around, while eating 3 family sized pizzas, and think of outrageous things to say on air to offend people? I think he's playing a game with us Australia...the more people he offends, and the more media time he gets, he gets more points! And maybe his crappy singer wife will feed him a little more dinner at night! Or maybe its some geniuses at 2day fm who come up with these awesome ideas?

Honestly Kyle, you are fat and greasy. Since you think Magda could go lose a little more weight, maybe you can become the new face of Jenny Craig? No, please don't. Nobody likes looking at you - maybe that is why you are on the radio.

Hitler still killing years later - Nick Wade

A new advertisement set to be released on German television depicts Hitler in a steamy encounter with a woman and a tag line that reads “AIDS is a mass murderer”. The ad campaign is aimed to counter a fall in public awareness about the virus and promote safe sex.
For those of you who don’t find this to be utterly hilarious and stupid, stop reading now you obviously don’t understand basic humour. For those of you who wish to learn, listen closely. AIDS is tragic, and by itself is not funny, Hitler was a meanie and by himself is not funny. However Hitler + AIDS = Very funny. So you see this is my proven formula that two wrongs make a funny.

Dirk Silz creative director of the Das committee agency is quoted as saying “We asked ourselves what face we could give to the virus, and it couldn’t be a pretty face”. Well Dirk Silz your right, up until now I myself thought aids was a walk in the park, but if Hitler’s concerned it must be bad. On the bright side we may now have a cure to the deadly virus, I’m pretty sure last time Hitler got up to his devious old ways we rounded up an army of Allied troops and marched right on over there to give him a slap on the wrist. By my reasoning this trusted solution ought to work like a charm on the pesky old AIDS virus.

As if the topic of AIDS and Hitler wasn’t serious enough this whole situation could actually be breaching a much larger and in my opinion far more important issue. I speak of course about the age old debate of “how soon is too soon?” This question has plagued comedians the world over for generations and in a recent poll has been discovered to actually be a much more pressing issue than finding a cure for aids.

You see Hitler and his holocaust was roughly 70 years ago and yet it’s still not funny, where as the untimely death of Steve Irwin was a mere 3 years ago, his family lives on without him and despite this the situation is already hilariously funny. In my opinion the solution to this problem should be next on our scientists list of things to do, a quantifiable formula to determine exactly how long it takes before a tragic situation ceases to be heart rending and starts to be laughable.