i-Anya

According to this TMZ.com media report, bloggers have come under fire for predicting the Oscar contenders. With a title, “Do bloggers know more than mainstream media?” the article (and the ones this article reports about) has caused quite a stir, because somebody’s study has shown that bloggers have been getting it right in the past more than mainstream journalists!

But this debate over bloggers vs. journalists seems outdated to me now. Axel Bruns quoted Glenn Reynolds in a book chapter he’s written for Uses of Blogs, saying that “… although some bloggers ‘do actual reporting from time to time, most of what they bring to the table is opinion and analysis – punditry’.” Whatever it is - punditry, gatewatching, opinion, micro-commentary, I love the showbiz gossip blogs. How else would I find out that Guy Ritchie is going to be Brad and Angelina’s best man??

Most of this week has been immersed in writing and preparing workshop presentations, and I have to say, after a month off for my leave I had almost forgotten how much I love getting messy with words, ideas, theorising and the whole writing process. For me the process involves throwing out lots of bits and pieces: half formulated ideas, quotes from here and there, personal anecdotes… and then trying to sort through it to weave the mess into the story I want my papers to tell. Love it!!

Ooohhhhh how exciting, Linden just tagged me for this four things meme! Since it’s a public holiday here (HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!) I welcome the diversion. It’s the very first time I have been “tagged”! But I wonder if any of my responses will be a surprise to anybody? Linden talks about “favourites” as identity markers, and I can’t help but agree and to be analytical about it. The most interesting thing with this meme is that Linden changed it slightly from the person who tagged her, Steven, and he changed it slightly from the person who tagged him, mattrobin, and so on and on… so I wonder: is this a new sort of “transformative” meme - one that both replicates and transforms according to the identity of the replicator?

Because it’s a bit long, I’ll put it here: (more…)

I have spent the entire day today writing my “Blogging as a Literacy Research Tool” paper at the same time as working on the powerpoint presentation to go with it. I love working that way because the combination of academic thinking and creativity seems to work really well for me.

I used these notes that I made last year as a starting point for anybody interested. I’ll no doubt be editing and refining the actual thing until two minutes before the presentation in mid-Feb, so will upload the final thing then.

After a very dull day in the office answering emails all day I decided to go thrillseeking on Second Life. This screenshot is me and Jayce skydiving - actually we were base jumping off the side of some buildings… and somebody below us had crashed an aeroplane, hence the smoke and fire!

And my new word of the day:

rezzing (v.): from (image) resolution, meaning the process of the screen image resolving from black to an intensely graphically enhanced world - in Second Life the image processing takes a while as you teleport into new worlds and zones, so when somebody asks you if you’re done rezzing, they are asking whether you can see everything in the world yet.

My nieces were given the Playsation game “Singstar” for Christmas. Fortunately my sister also bought the Singstar 80s version, so when I visited her we sat and sang 80s songs together and I was mortified to discover that I am not as tunefully delightful as I always imagined I was :/

The game is heaps of fun though - you can sing solo, in duet mode, or in competition mode. You sing into microphones karaoke style and a display on the screen shows how close you are to singing in tune, scoring you along the way and issuing comments after each line such as “cool” or “bad” … you get points and an overall rating from “tone deaf” to “rising popstar” - here’s a screenshot:

It’s hilarious to sing/play yourself, but I have to say that when you’re not having your turn, it gets painful to listen to others playing it for too long *grin* (sorry Laura and friend).

My favourite song to sing was 99 red Balloons but I had no idea that this 80s song was a political comment until I actually read the lyrics on the screen one line at a time and tried to sing it! I’ve never been one for pop songs - give me jazz any day - but I do have a new appreciation for them after trying to sing them! :>

Between no access and the blog server being upgraded, I haven’t been able to blog for weeks!!! Although I am back in Sydney now, my heart is still in Tasmania. Here’s a map of where I went (in the yellow) and where I am already planning to go for my next Summer vacation (in the pink)!

Here’s Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake - there are some great walks around this area into the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness, and its a popular tourist destination. A friend of my stepmothers works in one of the exclusive resort chalets here and reported that Princess Mary brought Prince Frederick here for a few days and they had Danish pastries flown in every morning for them! *grin*

I also did a tiny bit of shopping at my favourite galleries and of course at the famous Salamanca market:

But mainly I had fun hanging out with family. It’s great to actually have vacations!! For many years I never took them - always studying and writing and working. But post-PhD I have been allowing myself to have a life :>

(PS: Thanks DrJoolz and B for missing me!! )

How beautiful Tasmania is?

Tasmania is approximately the same size as Scotland and has a population of about 485,000 - it’s most well known for its pristine Wilderness and its convict heritage, and tourism is one of its most rapidly growing businesses. When I retire I want to open up an art gallery and sell photographs and paintings of Tasmania *grin*

Rainforests, rivers, gorges, ravines, lakes, waterfalls, harbours, beaches - ahhh yes, I have been travelling through the heart of the Tasmanian wilderness. Here’s a little peek of the beautiful island that I call home:

Happy 2006 from Launceston in Tasmania!! I don’t have access to blog for a while but New Year greetings to all!!