Between Christmas and New Year I was reading a blog from one of my favourite scrapbook artists Biograffiti. She had written about her plans to complete Project 365 and the templates that she planned to sell throughout the year. I was intrigued and investigated to find out more.
What is Project 365 (or P365)?? While every P365 is different and reflects the hobbies, interests and goals of the participants .. in its simplest form it is the simple act of taking a photo every day for a year. Many people will post their photos on Flickr, Picassa, blogs, scrapbook pages, twitter or share via email ... however the presentation of the photos is not the important part of the project ... The idea behind starting a P365 is to make photography an every day event, with hopes of improving the art. It also has the added benefit of forcing a photographer/scrapbooker to slow down and take a different look at the world around them.
I already have a tendency as both a parent and (very) amateur photographer to take lots of pictures. However I liked the idea of the discipline of taking (at least) a photo a day as I have a tendency of taking a lot of photos all at once and then not for a few days (and sometimes weeks).
So I decided and have almost completed my first month of Project 365. Like most people I have created some additional personal rules/goals. I am taking each day 1 photo of each of my 2 children, 1 photo of either (or both) of my 2 cats and sometimes a photo of .. well just anything that takes my eye. I then choose one from the 4 groups as my main P365 image. So far I have not missed a day ... however as I have not even completed 10% of the year's goal I am not being too cocky.
On the scrapbooking side, I have and will continue to use Biograffiti's P365 templates. They are a great way to get a quick starting point for scrapbooking p365 and you can make it as simple of completed as you like. If you just want to put in the photos and do some brief journalling ... that is OK ... or if you want to use them as a staring point and then embellish for hours ... hey that is also good.
If you are interested ... here are some additional places where you can get some information
Does gender play a role when selecting a Carer for your child (Nanny, Babysitter or Mother's Help)? Would you (or have you) been influenced to either hire or not someone because of their gender? Would the gender of your child/ren make a difference?
I was reading an article the other week on Essential Baby - Should I hire a Nanny or Manny? and it had me thinking. When we had been hiring for a Nanny I did not have this issue as no men applied ... so it didn't really become a question that we considered.
We had 1 son at the time that we were hiring and we now have a baby girl. For me I don't think it would make a difference. If they had the necessary qualifications, skills and were the "right fit" for our family I don't think I would have considered gender as an influencing factor.
What do you think? http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/parenting/community/should-i-hire-a-nanny-or-a-manny-20091215-kt46.html
On 4 November 2009, former NSW Premier Nathan Rees and Minister for Transport David Campbell announced the introduction of new child restraint laws for children up to seven years of age.
Summary of changes
From 1 March 2010:
All children up to seven years of age must be secured in a child restraint.
Babies up to the age of 6 months must be restrained in the rearward-facing restraint.
For young children from 6 months to 1 year of age a rearward or forward facing restraint must be used.
From 1 to 4 years of age the child must be restrained in a forward facing restraint.
From 4 years to 7 years of age, a booster seat must be used.
My thoughts ... I was very surprised when I read about these changes and then investigated what our current laws are on child restraints. Really there aren't any. It is more about recommendations than requirements. So I agree with the principal of what they are trying to achieve ... however not the application. Why? Doing it my age rather than by weight means that children outside of the "normal" age/weight ranges are not catered for. How is this? All baby restraints are recommended to be used by weight. Reverse facing car capsules go up to about 9kgs (dependent on brand and model), reverse facing convertible child restraints (up to 12kgs) and booster seats up to 26kgs. So in order to be both compliant with the law and the recommendations from the manufacturers it can be alittle tricky. For example my children are very tall/long for their age and their weight is appropriate for their height. While I can move my 3 month old daughter from the car capsule to the reverse facing convertible child restraint I have and keep her reverse facing until she is 6 months old, it is harder when they both reach the other end of the scale. Based on their height and weight percentiles they are expected to reach 26kgs before they are 7 (probably between 5 and 6) and will therefore be too big for the restraints and yet not old enough to be in a car without one. I just hope that I have missed something in my reading and that the government has the foresight to write the law so that it caters for all .. and doesn't discriminate against my children because they are tall.
One thing I would like to do this year is put the spotlight on some great small businesses that I have had the fortune to discover and be a patron. I know the old marketing/business rule that a customer that has a bad experience will tell at least 7 people and you are lucky if a customer with a good experience tells 1 ... and these days with social networking I think that these numbers in now way reflect the reality. So to help work on the balance ... I would like to spend some time highlighting some of the great businesses that I use.
Coffee Alchemy Coffee Alchemy is a small specialist Coffee roaster in Sydney's inner west. Their business services both cafes and commercial clients as well as the general public. And they are serious about coffee. Their work and love of coffee has been recognized with their winning awards including the Australian Barista Champion title, the NSW Championship titles, the Australian Cupping Champion title, the Golden Bean Gold medal for Filter Coffee, the Sydney Royal Fine Food 2008 bronze medals, the Sydney Royal Fine Food 2009 silver and bronze medal (both in the espresso category) and bronze (plunger category).
However do not have this make you think that they are only interested in services professional baristas. Whether you come into their store ... or contact them via the phone or online, you will find them very helpful in advising you on the best coffee for your palate or occasion. For example ... my father wanted to get some nice coffee. He told me exactly the type of coffee he liked including how he likes to drink it (ie milk coffee either cappuccino or flat white) and Hazel was very attentive and made some suggestions on their range that would best suit that preference.
The quality of their beans are excellent and their service is exceptional. So whether you are in Sydney and can visit their store or further afield and purchase via their website .. I recommend that you try Coffee Alchemy.
Is this KFC ad racist or is this another example of American cultural imperialism? I personally do not think that this ad is racist and here are my reasons.
Is the KFC Ad Racist? To start with ... what is the first question really mean? How can an ad be racist? An ad can be racist if it perpetrates negative stereotypes that reinforces views of the creators that one particular ethnic group has qualities influenced by their ethnicity that are not as good or inferior to another ethnic group. Therefore in this example does this ad display negative stereotypes of West Indians as a ethnic group with qualities based on ethnicity that are inferior to Australians (and I guess in particular "white" Australians?) 1. This ad was made by Australians for an Australian audience. This ad was uploaded to Youtube and other websites without permission. It was not intended for audiences outside of Australia.
2. Australians ... and the West Indians as far as I know .. do not have any negative stereotypes (historical or otherwise) associated with West Indians and fried chicken. I am not aware of Australians having negative sterotypes in relation to fried chicken and any ethnic group including Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
Negative associations with fried chicken and African Americans exist within the United States. This negative association between friend chicken and African Americans have a long history and may have evolved out of American Slavery. Historically the connecting of African Americans to fried chicken was done in a way to dehumanize African Americans and subject them to ridicule. This process helped contribute to prejudice and discrimination in the United States. (see http://www.authentichistory.com/diversity/african/chickenwatermelon/index.html).
However it is worthwhile going back to the point that this ad made for Australian audiences and the group of people in it are not African Americans but West Indians and Australians. West Indians are NOT African Americans. That is like saying the Canadians are the culturally the same as Americans. Or Australians are culturally the same as Americans ... and that is offensive.
3. KFC is a major sponsor of Australian cricket. (KFC are also a major sponsor of West Indian Cricket). KFC are playing a series of ads about how a Australian male cricket fan gets the best possible situation to watch cricket. This includes getting flatmates ("white") to be quiet and getting in-laws ("white") to watch the cricket by feeding them fried chicken. (see ad series at KFC website - http://www.kfc.com.au/cricket/ )
This ad in particular is about an Australian supporter sitting in a group of the other teams international supporters (awkward). This summer season in Australia the international visitors are the West Indies and Pakistan. Would it have been better if the group of supporter were Pakistanis? Or would that have been more culturally inappropriate?
To summarize ... the question was is this ad racist? NO! Is it a good ad? No. I think creatively it is a terrible ad. But it is not racist.
Is this an example of American Cultural Imperialism?
What is cultural imperalism? Cultural imperialism is the practice of promoting, distinguishing, separating, or artificially injecting the culture of one society into another. It is usually the case that the former belongs to a large, economically or militarily powerful nation and the latter belongs to a smaller, less important one. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_imperialism and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Empire).
So ... is condemning this ad being racist an example of Americans (as individuals and not a group) imposing their cultural stereotypes onto Australians . I think the answer is YES.
Blog about the musing of an entrepreneur mum (mumpreneur). Follow in the adventure, trials and tribulations as I try to balance business, a husband and 2 children. I hope to also cover issues that are important to me including
* Work at Home Mums - Employment and Mumpreneurs * Study at Home Mums * Campaigns and Issues affecting at Home Mums including Paid Maternity and Paid Parental leave * Activities for Kids * Childcare * Bilingualism & Multilingualism * Autism Awareness Terms of Use
e 4 groups as my main P365 image. So far I have not missed a day ... however as I have not even completed 10% of the year's goal I am not being too cocky.
