the 'R' word

Everything it seems can be blamed on 'the recession.' Most of us are sick of the mere mention of it, but it is difficult to ignore when television, newspapers, radio, internet and magazines keep fanning the flames of the 'R' word. The media reports on the recession, possibly causing people to worry and tighten their spending habits, therefore lowering the demand for products. This means less income for businesses, and some companies cannot afford staff so they cut their wages or enforce redundancy. People have difficulty finding more work, and in turn the media uses this and reports on it. Would the recession exist in a world without the media?

The media has the power to sway opinions or completely shape them based on what they present as fact. There is a very fine line between what is truth and what is opinion on any information about the recession. In our Land of the Long White Cloud, people may be tightening their spending habits because of an anxious ideology that they shouldn't be spending money in a recession. Could the media be influencing society to be minimalist consumers?

Imagine if there was a public relations meeting held and the government formulated a plan for the headline on the front page of tomorrows paper to read, 'The recession is over!' People could relax and start spending money again, and thereby 'fix' the economy. Preposterous? What would happen if we declared New Zealand 'recession free?' That's what the Cook Islands have done. They have declared their country recession free and are experiencing growth in the tourism sector. A media release on the 18th of May announced they had decided not to take part in the world wide recession, making it the first recession free oasis in the world.

The Cook Island Minister of Tourism Wilkie Rasmussen said everyone is tired of hearing about the global economic doom and gloom. "Travelers are now being given the opportunity to escape the recession by coming to a country where it doesn't exist."
Air New Zealand Deputy CEO Norm Thompson, said "we are seeing interest and growth in bookings for flights to the Cook Islands despite slow downs in other markets. It's currently Air New Zealand's number one Pacific Island destination."

Is the recession psychological? There's reality, and then there's perceived reality. Has the word Recession been slapped on willy-nilly? Comparing it to the Great Depression of the 1930s in which it is reported that 7 million people in the United States died, are we literally starving, or just forced to buy budget brand toilet paper?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10573198

reading is for geeks?

Have you ever walked in to a second hand book shop and thought ah, the smell of knowledge? A peculiar odor of old wood and musk. There’s nothing like the smell of books, old or new, where I have on occasion opened one up just to take a big whiff. I love books. I’ve grown up with them. I owe my vocabulary and spelling to them, half of my imagination! But with the fascinating affinity of reading comes a juvenile label, a socially manufactured stereotype. People who read books are geeks.

I remember the first novel I ever read. I was 9-years-old and my teacher gave me Black Boots and Button Hooks by Phyllis Johnston, which I have read numerous times since and remains a favorite. From J.K Rowling to Dan Brown, reading is a past time that runs in my family, and I couldn’t imagine life without it. The list of books I have read is shorter than the list I want to read. I get overwhelmed when I go in to a library, so many books so little time! I am puzzled and slightly offended whenever my friend sniggers and calls me a geek when she finds me reading. She will mock me, and say in a sarcastic tone ‘Is that fun?’

From primary school, all through high school, and even in to tertiary study (can you believe it!?) I have experienced being called a geek solely because I love to read. People feel it is original to use a socially constructed label. To me it is the height of arrogance. I can’t stand the stigma attached to people who read excessively.

I remember reading a line in a book from The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, something along the lines of ‘well read people are less evil.’ I thought about that and strongly agreed, although I hadn’t researched it. But what I did find when I researched it on the internet were pages and pages of information on the benefits of reading, such as one claiming that if you read you are able to identify much better with how people and think and feel, with health benefits of stress and anxiety relief. It enables you to empathize more with others. We should have shut Hitler in a library.

I understand some people aren’t big readers, with some telling me it is too time consuming, it is boring, or they lack the imagination and the attention span. Others have told me they think that people have to have been brought up to read from a young age. Everyone would share my lust for reading if they had the right book. Rap star Akon claims to have read over 500 books when he was in prison. See kids, reading is cool.

In the literary world you wouldn’t dare catch someone calling someone else a geek for reading. Books are amazing. Centuries pass, technology develops, people die, people are born, yet McDonalds remains, and so do books.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Five-Health-Benefits-of-Reading

books vs. movies

When I read a book and fall in love with it, I am always skeptical to I hear it is being made in to a movie. Some books are so amazing, and so personal that the little world designed in your head with what the characters look like is at risk of being destroyed. Is the story going to be done justice? Will the producers remain loyal to the details?

It is the norm to make bestselling novels in to movies as they do it every single time. A cast of actors famous enough to adopt an African child fast-track does not ensure the magic of a book is transferred on to the big screen. I remember my stark disappointment at The Horse Whisperer movie after it became my favourite book. Tom Booker didn't even die! Annie MacLean didn't have his illegitimate child. They didn't have a sex scene...I was very disappointed.

Angels and Demons, My Sister’s Keeper, and The Time Traveler’s Wife are all just a few recent ones, but more epic films such as The Lord of the Rings, Forrest Gump, and The Power of One are remarkable films. The most challenging thing that results in the original story being altered is the length. A classic example is Gone with the Wind, where Scarlett O’Hara’s two children by her first two husbands were completely cut out of the story. The Lord of the Rings was altered for cinematic effect. Does this betray the author’s integrity? Peter Jackson is quoted with saying "Sure, it's not really The Lord of the Rings ...but it could still be a pretty damn cool movie.” http://www.theonering.com/page3-25/TheMoviesTheCompleteListofFilmChanges this link is to a website that lists differences between the books and movies.

Why don't they make films in to novels? 'Wow that was such a great film I can’t wait ‘til they make it in to a book.' It is all about money and convenience. Movies are easier to watch, they are less time consuming and take no effort as it is all played out before you and doesn't require imagination. Books require your own vision, your own private ideas, but they are both vices of escapism.

anguish languish

Do you find it ironic that the word lisp has an 's' in it? Or that phonetics is spelled with a phonetic device? Words are very interesting. Did you know that the Hawaiian language only has 12 letters? And that the highest scoring word in scrabble is 'quartzy'? As irrelevant as this probably is to you, there are some very intense studies done in to the dynamics of the English Language, or more appropriately, the Anguish Languish.

Look at this exert from a popular story and read it aloud...

Wants pawn term dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage honor itch offer lodge, dock, florist. Disk ladle gull orphan worry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.

For the full story go here http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/anguish.html#Ladle%20Rat%20Rotten%20Hut

Did you figure out what the story is? Did you even understand the words? Chances are you didn't. These words, when spoken the correct way, become completely different words. This type of translation comes from a group called SPAL (Society for the Promotion of the Anguish Languish) who are trying to create awareness about the versatility of words and the different ways they can be used. Let me translate the beginning of that story...

Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived with her mother in a little cottage on the edge of a large, dark, forest. This little girl often wore a pretty little red cloak with a little red hood, and for this reason people called her little red riding hood.

Can you make out the the Angiush story now you can see the link? It becomes easier with practice to decipher the stories by the sounds of the words.

The website with information written by Howard L. Chace explores this idea that words can be replaced by other words but derive an original meaning by the way they are sounded.

"The experiments described above, and hundreds of similar ones conducted by SPAL show that an unbelievable number of English words, regardless of their usual meanings, can be substituted quite satisfactorily for others. When all the words in a given passage of English have been so replaced, the passage keeps its original meaning, but all the words have acquired new ones. A word that has received a new meaning has become a wart, and when all the words in the passage have become warts, the passage is no longer English; it's Anguish.”
http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/anguish.html

fashion controversy

I am a huge fan of fashion photography; I would believe that it is one of the most difficult genres in the world to execute. Although I have only dabbled in it, I appreciate how much work is involved to design beautiful photographs that look deceivingly effortless. As an integral element in fashion magazines (naturally) the art of fashion photography has an important role in the media. It inspires, and it sells. But when is the ethical mark over stepped? Controversial fashion photography is not something I hear about often.

Look at this photograph. What would you think if I told you it was pulled from publication world wide after protests? The ad from Dolce & Gabbana sparked criticism from human rights groups who claimed it condoned violence against women. On the 6th of March 2007, Dolce & Gabbana announced they were pulling the ad after many complaints in Spain and even their home turf, Italy. According to Domenico Dolce, the image is artistic and was meant to “recall an erotic dream, a sexual game.” Stefano Gabbana says that he regrets the way the ad was perceived and insists that he and his partner Domenico Dolce were not intending to demean women. I think it is a beautiful photograph, but yes, if you choose to analyze it there is the risk of open interpretation.

http://bit.ly/aT93v

This one from Tom Ford has also raised eye brows. The ad for a mens fragrance features the bottle between a woman’s breasts. The second image in the campaign is some what more graphic http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2131/1653765474_7ea052478d.jpg?v=0. Tom Ford is a high profile American fashion designer who has a talent for attracting attention. He was the creative director for Gucci for ten years, from 1994 to 2004. Between 1995 and 1996, sales at Gucci increased by 90% - he knows his stuff, but some of his fashion advertising makes me uncomfortable!

http://bit.ly/1a7YuK

This picture of model Sophie Dahl for Yves Saint Laurent is another by Tom Ford. The campaign for Opium perfume was launched in 2000 and was seen in billboards across Britain. They were banned after the Advertising Standards Authority received 730 complaints about the provocative image. Christopher Graham, ASA director general, said the poster was sexually suggestive and likely to cause "serious or widespread offence." There is little debate over whether the ad is sexually suggestive or not, but there are heated opinions over whether it is offensive and demeaning or if it is women's liberation. "This is a celebration of female sensuality for it to be banned only shows how little respect we are really given. Why are we still being oppressed by 19th Century thinking and our gender outlawed, when it is shown in a true light, in the 21st Century? What sort of message does this send to our daughters and granddaughters who could well face this same prejudice tomorrow?" Hannah Sinclair Gallifrey http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/1077818.stm


link for Dolce & Gabbana photograph

http://media.onsugar.com/files/ons1/280/2807475/07_2009/7c/dng-rauncy-ad.jpg

three things I love about the media

1. I can get the news for free in a medium that doesn’t cause piles of unwanted news paper. The first website I check in to every day is the New Zealand Herald Online; no subscription fees, no checking the mail box (call me lazy), no touching the yucky texture of news print. After me and my flatmate subscribed to the Waikato Times on a promotional fee, the novelty wore off after a couple of weeks. We eventually stopped opening them, because rather than sifting through all the pages to find things of interest, I could narrow it precisely by the click of a mouse. I'm not sure if that it a good thing though.

2. It is instant! On the day that Michael Jackson died, I didn’t have to wait for a news paper or evening news, nope, it was all over the Internet. The surrealism of it all hit me as big as the head lines that said the King of Pop was dead. With pod casts and news updated hourly on most top news sites, there is no waiting around or relying on the 6pm television news anymore. I want it and I want it now! How could civilization have survived with waiting until tomorrow's news paper to learn about things like the bombing of Pearl Harbour or that Barack Obama won presidency! There is radio...and yes I am aware that both the examples I used were American.

3. It feeds my massive appetite for information and curiosity! Whether it be hard news, human interest stories, travel, or plain gossip, I revel in the inflow of new facts and ideas - not that I retain them long. It's like every day I have a quota that I have to fill with sometimes the most random answers. I have Googled things like 'Where do tears come from?' and 'Why is the sky blue?' I was satisfied with the knowledge of those deep and meaningful questions for those days but I can't remember the answers now. They got replaced with other things like 'Why is the meaning of life 42?' and 'Do mussels have brains?' With the Internet, the world really is at your finger tips.

five things you never knew your cell phone could do

My Dad sent this as an email attachment half a year ago...I skim read, thought it was interesting but never thought about it again until now. I sifted through my inbox to find it so I could share the useful things that I'm not sure too many people know about. I'm not sure where it came from or who wrote it.

"For all the folks with cell phones. (This should be printed and kept in your car, purse, and wallet. Good information to have with you.) There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

1. The emergency number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly, this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

This does indeed work, although I hung up after a couple of rings. 112 comes up with ‘Emergency Call.’

2. Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).

Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!'

Unfortunately, I do not have a car alarm. If there is a missing hub cab, no spare tyre, and a missing passengers side door handle, I don’t really see the point.

3. Hidden Battery Power. Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate<> press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.

Wow this actually worked! All these years and I never knew.

4. How to disable a stolen mobile phone. To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06#.
A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe.When your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.

Couldn’t get this one to work…

5. Free Directory Service for cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE411 (800)FREE411, or (800) 373-3411 (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phone now. This is sponsored by McDonald's.This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving,
so Pass it on to your family and friends."

source unknown

http://www.astahost.com/info.php/Hate-Cell-Phones_t10282.html

cell phone dependence

I have just gone a whole day without using my cell phone. This shouldn't be a shocking statement, but sadly for me, it is. My reliance on this tiny digital device begins with every day as my phone alarm goes off to wake me up. I often think about the scary proposition of life without it, going back maybe 15 years ago before the cell phone boom. This was when cell phones weren't mainstream. Ownership was limited to rich people who must have thought they were so up with the Joneses for having some sweet technology that resembled a cordless brick. My life would be very different if I didn’t have the convenience of being able to talk to anyone on my contacts list when ever I wanted to.

A cell phone has become an extension of the human body, and in years to come…I don’t want to think about it. We have lost the sentimental tenderness of a hand written letter or even face to face communication. What would Juliet have done if Romeo had declared his love through a text message? But then again they both needn’t have died if she had just SMS’d him that she was going to pretend to be dead…and that she would see him later xo. It comes down to security. Whatever trouble you get in, you could always have an escape route if you have your cell phone. It’s not so much the talking, come on we are students we can’t afford to ring people but texting has changed western culture. It has become a necessity, and although I’m sure I wouldn’t actually convulse and slowly die if I didn’t have one, my death would very likely be an indirect result of not having one.

One very down to earth person told me they didn’t want a cell phone because it is just a distraction, and that too many plans are changed at the drop of a hat because the convenience of changing them is there. None of my friends seem too concerned about effects of electro-magnetic radiation, but unless I sprout a second head, neither will I. Apparently, with the increase of cell phones among young people there has been a decrease in cigarette use. Experts believe this is more than coincidence, and that the cell phone has replaced the social mechanisms of smoking. According to a UNICEF report ‘The State of The World’s Children,’ the average for the industrialized world was 93 cell phones and 59 Internet connections per 100 young people. The report said there were 94 cell phone owners and 79 Internet users per 100 Kiwis aged between 15 and 24.

In 2000, only 12 per cent of the global population had a mobile phone. "At current growth rates, global mobile penetration is expected to reach 50 per cent by early 2008," according to International Telecommunication Union's January newsletter. This would amount to more than 3.3 billion subscriptions worldwide.”

Unless we all do indeed sprout an additional body part, I can't see any decline in the popularity of the cell phone.


http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/02/06/tech-cellphone.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/columns/online/2746474/Cellphones-a-necessary-evil