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eyecache · 4 years ago

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@prinita.thevarajah on @southasia.art, 11/11/2019 to 11/19/2019

“Hello, Prinita @prinita.thevarajah here. This week I’ll be sharing my thoughts about Eelam cultural identity formation through Tamil cinema (Kollywood) and the Eelam diaspora.

Eelam Tamils are native to Sri Lanka and constitute the largest diasporic Tamil community outside of India. Not all diasporic Tamils share a collective sense of Tamil identity, though Kollywood has been crucial in marking and maintaining one’s Tamil identity in the diaspora, especially where Tamil communities often hold minority status. As an Eelam kid in Australia, I often looked towards Kollywood to shape my understanding of what it meant to be Tamil. The child of Eelam refugees who fled Sri Lanka in the 80s as war between the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) erupted, ongoing violence carried out against Eelam Tamils halted our community's capacity in developing a 'popular culture’ of it’s own. To be an Eelam Tamil is to be part of a community whose territorial, cultural and ethno-linguistic identity have been so heavily discriminated against to the point of genocide. The trauma of war seeped into our identity formation, and our fragmented diaspora while incredibly resilient, had not one single cultural representation to rely on. So, despite a lack of representation, Kollywood became the pillar that Tamilness sat upon. And while the articulation of Dravidian identity and Tamil nationalism is profound in Kollywood, the struggles of Eelam Tamils fit well within the profound self proclamations of Tamil language, culture and tradition propagated by Kollywood, but solidarity failed to materialize on the screens.

This week I want to explore representations of Eelamness in Kollywood, highlight artists in the diaspora contributing to an Eelam cultural renaissance and ask - what does it mean to re-imagine Eelam popular culture and how can we reclaim our Eelmaness by de-centering Indian ideals of Tamilness?

Despite yearning for a Eelam identity that is whole, I cannot discount the profound impact Kollywood has had on molding me into a proud Tamil. As a child in Sydney, my Appa contributed to Inbathamil Oli (Sweet Sound of Tamil) - a 24 hour Tamil radio station.

He would take me along to spend overnight shifts at the station, and I would listen on fondly to his musings over the air. The theme song for the station was Mettu Podu from the film 1994 Tamil film, Duet. 20 years on, the song still sticks with me as an anthem for the strength, resilience and beauty of the Tamil community.

ஆண் : தங்கமே தமிழுக்கில்லை தட்டுப்பாடு ஒரு சரக்கிருக்குது முறுக்கிருக்குது மெட்டுப் போடு Tamil will never be lacking & I will make music to proclaim it! எத்தனை சபைகள் கண்டோம் எத்தனை எத்தனை பகையும் கண்டோம் அத்தனையும் சூடங்காட்டிச் சுட்டுப் போடு We have seen many fights We have been through many wars Forget them all and be free of them! மெட்டுப் போடு மெட்டுப் போடு என் தாய் கொடுத்த தமிழுக்கில்லை தட்டுப்பாடு Make music, make sound With the tongue of Tamil my mother gave me Tamil will never be lacking

MATERIALIZED AS TRAUMATIZED// Today I want to focus on the representation of Eelam Tamils in Kollywood as one that is flattened without nuance: a people in constant agony and despair, solidifying us in our state of trauma. It is certainly necessary to provide an understanding of the ramifications of genocide for Eelam Tamils. Where historically, our struggle has been erased: the denial of genocide and failure by the international community to intervene or hold the Sri Lankan state accountable for war crimes, the depiction of the plight of Eelam people in Kollywood is assumed to be informative. But I ask, why all trauma and no strength? If Kollywood could make room for us as broken people, why not also portray our vigor and irepressibility? How do we see ourselves as Eelam people when the only representation of us in popular culture is a community that is defeated?

Historically, Kollywood has been uninterested in Tamil diasporic subjects. It's preoccupation has been in the entrenched ideas of Tamil culture, tradition, modernity and ethno-linguistic nationalism. The praxis of Tamil cinema is guided by the everyday practices of Tamil lives in Tamil Nadu and fails to incorporate the question of identity that the diaspora grapples with. Consider that the political struggle of Eelam Tamils heralded a new phase of militant Tamil nationalism, created a society that reformers and poets of Tamil Nadu could only imagine, and waged a war for liberation that was of epic proportions in both triumph and tragedy. It is a grievance that a culture industry in the ‘heart of Tamil civilization’ did not give adequate artistic due in its mainstream medium to an achievement that is claimed by many a Tamil nationalist to have been the ‘height of Tamil civilization’

It’s clear that diasporic Tamil identities are shored up as an anomaly to normative Tamil cinematic identity. Looking closer at the 2000 film Thenali shows the vexed and complex relationship between the Eelam Tamils and those from Tamil Nadu.

Thenali (Kamal Hassan) is an Eelam man from Jaffna. He is a hyper anxious neurotic used by his psychiatrist to derail the career of Dr Kailash. Thenali falls in love with Dr Kailash’s sister, Janaki. The film follows an enraged Dr Kailash’s attempt to eliminate Thenali despite Thenali’s naive quest to please the Dr. Subtle distinctions portray the disparate identity of Eelam Tamils. From the Dr Kailash questioning why Thenali speaks Tamil differently, to Thenali painted as a miserable jest juggling irrational fears as a result of having his home raided by soldiers, his father attacked and mother raped. The film seeks to other Thenali, the traumatized Eelam man who just can’t seem to get it right. Towards the end of the film Dr Kailaish adopts words from the Jaffna dialect, but immediately corrects himself upon realization. If Thenali is the oppressed Eelam Tamil, Dr Kailash is a metonymy for India, whose help Thenali seeks again and again, refusing to see anything wrong in the doctor or his intentions, elevating him to the position of a divine being.

The political history of Tamil Nadu is riddled with moments when the people of Tamil Nadu and the state have been sympathetic to the cause of the Eelam Tamils, resulting in policies allowing Eelam Tamils to stay as refugees and also in offering us financial aid. Much like the fluctuation between compulsions that drive its foreign policy and the sympathy for Tamils expressed in Tamil Nadu, Dr Kailash declares his predicament that he is unable to disclose the thoughts he harbours. At the point when he thinks he is close to eliminating Thenali, he declares, ‘there is no joy in living as in watching destruction’, a statement that resonates deeply with the oft-repeated criticism of the Government of India and Tamil Nadu’s silence in the wake of the Sri Lankan army action in 2009 that resulted in the deaths of 100 000 Eelam Tamils

The film features the song "Injerungo" (slide 5&6) which supposedly includes Jaffna slang - but ask anyone actually from Eelam and they’ll tell you that Kamal Hassan missed the mark almost completely - Eelam kids, what do y’all think

Kannathil Muthamittaal (2002) is probably Kollywood’s most comprehensive take on the human cost and emotional toll endured by Eelam Tamils, complete with visceral descriptions and images of war torn Sri Lanka. The film tells the story of an Eelam girl, Amudha who is adopted by an Indian Tamil couple, and the family’s journey back to Sri Lanka to reacquaint mother and daughter. Her biological parents abandon Amudha to join the ‘rebel cause’ who we can assume is the LTTE. Rather predictably, considering the labeling of the LTTE as a terrorist organization, there is no overt reference made to the group. The rebels are depicted as armed men who speak Jaffna Tamil and the audience are left to form their own interpretation. Much like Thenali remains silent about the cause of Thenali’s oppression, Kannathil Muthamittaal resists making explicit reference to the cause of conflict or parties involved. Expectedly, the film holds arms traffickers responsible for the plight of Eelam Tamils, as opposed to the Sinhalese government, erasing actual genocidal intent since 1948. After visiting the island and witnessing the helplessness of the Eelam people, Amudha and her family return to Tamil Nadu. The underlying message is that the Indian Tamil is both politically and culturally superior and more empowered than the Eelam Tamil.

A common thread in both Kannathil Muthamittall and Thenali is that in the traumatized portrayal of Eelam subjects, Kollywood domesticates Eelam Tamils for an Indian Tamil public. Eelam Tamils are removed of their political agency and are presented as an object of pity. Rather than demanding concrete political solidarity, an abstract humanitarian sentiment is requested. As if to say, “ooh, look how they suffer. Let’s marry them. Or adopt them. Assimilate them into our safe lives. Let us be their providers.” Charity is the gesture appealed for, but there is always something fundamentally depraving in charity.

Tonight I want to make space to think about what it looks like to reimagine and reconstruct an Eelam Tamil cultural identity, away from Indian Tamil ideals.

An accurate portrayal of the political, social and existential condition of the Eelam Tamils is yet to be found in Kollywood. And as Eelam Tamils, we reject being labeled as Sri Lankan as to do so means aligning with the very state that attempted to erase our existence. What does this then mean for our capacity to develop as a people within the island? The North-East of Sri Lanka, the Tamil homeland, is one of the most heavily-militarized regions in the world. Currently, according to the Adayalaam Centre for Policy Research, in the Mullaitivu District - where the last phase of armed conflict was fought - at least 60 000 Sri Lankan army troops are stationed. That’s 25% of the 243 000 military personnel of the whole country. Our people in Eelam are under constant surveillance and control, the military's presence in Eelam facilitates displacement and land grabbing that consequently destabilizes and disrupts the day to day activities of our community. Survival becomes the goal with the preservation and development of culture an understandable after thought.

Considering the impossibility of any free Eelam Tamil cinema developing under the Sri Lankan state, we turn to the diaspora. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the genocide against Eelam people, and as we move into the new decade, it's vital to reflect and consider deeply the history we pave forward as a community. How are we creating stories for ourselves away from the narrow narrative that has been bolstered by Kollywood? How are we reclaiming the identities that the state of Sri Lanka tries to squash daily? At what point do we move away from memorializing genocide to depicting our resilience and expansiveness?

In the pursuit of an Eelam identity that is total, fragmented identities of caste, kinship, class, and region are devalued, uniting diasporic Tamils and strengthening our affinity to ūr. I want to spend the next few days exploring what it looks like to embrace our Eelamness fully as a diasporic people. I believe that in doing the work to understand and articulate ourselves wholly, we as diaspora Eelam Tamils begin to heal the trauma that has trickled down through our bloodlines. Our narrative has a destiny that is full of autonomy, solidarity and collaboration.

HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE/READY/RAW

I begin my imagination on the embodiment of diasporic Eelamness by exploring the legacy of Mathangi/Maya Arulpragasm, M.I.A. Not to revere or glorify, instead to honor and applaud her immense strides to give us visibility while fully embracing the multifaceted and radical notion of being an Eelam Tamil. Maya remains one of the only widely known representations of our community, from our community. That she is as revolutionary, innovative & resilient as she is is a reflection of the immense talent, ingenuity and pure force of Eelam people. Through her art, she amplifies the placelessness and the cultural and political contradictions that come with being an Eelam Tamil in a hyper-globalized world. The fact that she is so often dismissed, ridiculed and as of late ‘cancelled’, is clarification of her power in undermining and challenging unequal systems of control. From flipping off the Super Bowl to being banned from Sri Lanka, Maya is an unapologetic weapon of freedom.

Maya is a DIY artist guided by her trajectory from refugee to icon. Her strength in bringing bits and pieces together: beats, words, images, ideas - to create something new while centering her narrative as an Eelam woman, epitomizes the journey of an Eelam Tamil. Against a culture that glamorizes reality & equates beauty to consumption, Maya provokes a discussion about how the minority live, closing the distance between here and everywhere else. To be a diasporic Eelam Tamil means to be gaslighted by an entire nation, and yet moving uncompromisingly forward in being deeply inspired in our current contexts to bring change, revolutionize & decolonize. And while M.I.A. cannot go back home, we can.

Sunshowers came out when I was 9 years old. One Saturday morning, I crawled out of bed to watch music videos and inhale cereal and suddenly become entranced when Maya appeared, the hypnotic jungle beats blowing my mind. Up until then, the most representation I had as an Eelam kid was my reflection on a blank TV screen.

Reflecting on the music video now and it's images of brown women organizing, I draw parallels to the ideals and aims of the Women's Front of the LTTE. While it is not productive to linger on what could've been, I do believe that a radical imagination will set us free - and perhaps, this was Maya's intention, to provoke profound fantasies to revive the legacy of our ancestors.The aims of the Women’s Front were to: secure the right of self-determination of Tamil Eelam, to abolish oppressive caste discrimination and feudal customs such as the dowry system; and to eliminate all discrimination, secure social, political, and economic equality.

At the end of verse 1, Maya chants 'like PLO, I don't surrendo', making reference to the Palestinian Liberation Organization, emphasizing the interconnectedness of struggles throughout the world and the need to collaborate with and show solidarity with groups of people who experience similar discrimination under colonization. How can transnational, decolonial solidarity allow evolution to our identity as Eelam people? What does it mean to maintain the radical, non-violent goals Eelam within the diaspora?

BIRD FLU

2006/The track draws on the sonics of urumi/gaana that most Eelam kids will recognize. You know the sound cos when you hear it you can’t stop moving: it’s an infectious outbreak/dance break. Maya swims in a sea of folks who look like they could be my Anna or Thangachi - the visuals look like the homeland. It’s the noise of freedom, the resistance of dominant interpretation. Within the sonic dance break of Bird Flu, Maya cultivates themes of militarized warfare and global dispossession spins them into a collective resource for imagining the alternate for Eelam Tamils.

Running with this idea of ‘flu’ and ‘contagion’, with the sound and it’s accompanying visuals, Maya emphasizes the need to spread ideas of alternative utopian possibilities, collectivity, belonging, and pleasure in the midst of & despite devastation by warfare. For me, Bird Flu provides a refreshing moment of criticality—an opportunity to reactivate our political imaginations and reconceptualize eelam community.

SRI LANKA JUST ELECTED A WAR CRIMINAL AS PRESIDENT and I continue my attempt to unravel Eelamness. With the ache in my heart and rage in my chest I ask: how do we move forward?

When Sri Lanka repeatedly assigns power to murderers and thieves, Kollywood tries to cement us as wounded and the rest of the world exclaims ‘oh Sri Lanka! That’s near India right!!???!!?' how are we as a community dealing? Where our experiences of genocide are dismissed transnationally, how do we divert fury and desire for validation of our struggle to healing? How are we to heal when the scab keeps being torn open? What are our responsibilities, as artists, to bring rejuvenation and radical change?

As we grieve for the homeland, I encourage you to think about the privilege that comes with being in the diaspora. Our access to resources expands our capacity to strategize and organize: we cannot limit ourselves. Christopher Kulendran Thomas is an Eelam artist based in London & Berlin. Thomas’s 'New Eelam’ disregards the boundaries of the white cube to project an alternate reality of citizenship and ownership. Provoking the art world itself, Thomas is interested in how his work as an artist can bring structural and social change. New Eelam is presented as a real estate start up of sorts with a housing model grounded in collective international co-ownership: subscribers pay the same amount to access different houses across the world. Working alongside an architect and team of real estate, finance, law and tech folks, Thomas seeks to provoke conversations around property and migration. Our identity as a people is one that is marked by consistent displacement and disruption. We are dispersed but profoundly connected. New Eelam imagines a future that brings autonomy in migration and allows us to maintain the idea of an Eelam the transcends borders. Freedom of movement increases opportunities to collaborate, and our collaboration as a diaspora is essential in the liberation and legacy of Eelam.

When the riots began, My Thatha was the principal at Jaffna College in Killinochi. His school shut down immediately and when I was 6 months, he moved to Sydney and into our home on Burlington Road. Being in a war affected refugee household brings with it a plethora of traumas & my relationship with my grandfather was my safe space. He is an artist - and his idea of child minding was reciting Thirukurral to me as I listened at his feet, entranced: my fingers often swirling in acrylic paints or homemade clay. When I was scared, he would serenade me with sangitham, gamakas cartwheeling from his belly through his chest. Sometimes at night I would tip toe out of the bedroom I shared with my parents and older siblings into Thatha’s room. More often than not, he would be in a state of hypnosis, brushing away at a canvas with images that usually resembled home. Reflecting on this time in my life, I understand that creative expression was Thatha’s device for healing. Not only did his art allow him to reconnect with Eelam, but it also allows him to rewrite and reimagine his narrative.

My attempt to dissect our Eelam Tamil identity has been perplexing yet empowering. As a community heavily persecuted against within the island, distressingly traumatized within the diaspora and yet profoundly capable and irrepressible, I wonder - how can we as a community of diasporic artists begin to shift our narrative? They burnt down the Jaffna library for a reason, they saw our vision and were threatened by it. How can we harness the collective rage we feel productively in a way that not only allows for the liberation of our own people but inspires expansive radical change?

My fellow Eelam people, I challenge you to think large - move away from the commodified and the curated, the white cube and other structures and systems that attempt to contain our ideas. I encourage you to think about art as a a movement for change as opposed to an aesthetic. Organizing is a form of art, protest is a form of art and so is survival. We must use our creativity as an imaginative space that provokes discussion, dialogue and education across struggles. How, through our art, can we make the invisible, visible while listening and working alongside our Eelam community at home?”

Original posts available here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Wanted to repost this from @southasia.art on Instagram because of how informative it was.

#tamil #tamil film #sri lanka #kollywood #m.i.a.

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sareesinthewind · 4 years ago

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Photo 1: Parasakthy and Sundha 1961 in Colombo Photo 2: Parasakthy and Sundha in the 80s in Chennai Photo 3: Sundha as a BBC newsreader 1982 in London Photo 4: Sundha interviewing a young Mathematics prodigy from Tamil Nadu from Radio Ceylon studios 60s in Colombo Photo 5: Sundha was also a talented photographer, and this is one of the photos he took and cheekily edited on his film camera Photo 6: Sundha performing in one of the radio dramas, Radio Ceylon 1950s Photo 7&8: Front and back cover of ‘Mana Osai - Reminiscences of a Broadcaster’ a book about Sundha Paraskathy Sydney, Australia *note that uncle refers to Parasakthy’s husband, the late Sundharalingam. In 1948, uncle, as a young boy, had listened to the running commentary of Mahatma Gandhi’s funeral procession. Back then in Jaffna nobody had a radio at home, so the school principal hired one for the kids to be able to listen to Gandhi’s tributes. Uncle said that he and many of the children cried. Uncle was so amazed at how something happening in a distant land could move people in his village in Chavakacheri. In his wonderment at how this was possible, his dream to one day become a radio announcer was born. Sri Lanka started broadcasting in 1923, three years after Europe started the BBC. The transmitter was built using equipment from a captured German submarine. Colombo Radio, later known as Radio Ceylon, started broadcasting in English first and later added Sinhhalese and Tamil . As the station’s popularity grew in India, Hindi was introduced, which also catered for the Hindi-speaking businessmen in Colombo. While uncle was studying at Jaffna Central college, he stayed in a hostel and would listen to the 9pm All India Radio news on the public radio installed in Subramanian Park while the other students would be engrossed in their studies. At the age of 21, uncle started working in Colombo, having skipped his university entrance exam to earn money. There he found himself working in the office next to Radio Ceylon. One of his colleagues was a radio drama artist and invited uncle to join him. Uncle fell in love with the stage and soon became popular for his theatrical talents. When a vacancy opened up for a news reader, he applied and was appointed to the job. By the fifties, radio had become a big craze in Jaffna, but very few people could afford a radio and our parents also didn’t want us to get distracted by listening to film songs and dramas. Even if we could afford a radio, my family didn’t have electricity. We had a simple life and education was our main focus. Uncle’s family also didn’t have electricity and had to go to a neighbour's house to listen to his broadcasts. While at Radio Ceylon, he was seconded for a ministerial post as press officer with the option of returning to his job as a news announcer when he wished to do so.

His duties included reading the papers and giving the minister a summary of daily events as well as interpreting speeches from Sinhala to English or Tamil. He also accompanied different Sinhalese ministers on their trips, bearing witness to their acts incitement of discrimination against the Tamils. He would often come home and tell me how sad he felt. His next job was as a simultaneous interpreter in parliament, a service provided for the Members of Parliament . Most of the Members spoke only Sinhalese or English and uncle worked as the Tamil translator.

Because parliament only sat for a few days a year, uncle had a lot of free time, which he filled by voicing jingles for advertising companies and performing in radio plays .

The stage was like a second home for him. He had so much confidence in all three languages. In 1969, he and another interpreter were selected to do the simultaneous interpreting for the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20. These Sinhalese and Tamil interpretations, which were done non stop for three days, were broadcast by Radio Ceylon all around the country and region, capturing that awe-inspiring moment in history. The US Embassy in Colombo trained the team, which included Tamil and Sinhala scientists, for about a week, so that they were familiar with the technical terms. They also had to go through a simulated landing. Uncle found the American English difficult, but managed to successfully complete the task. Though Sinhala chauvinism escalated well before the eighties, we never imagined it would eventuate in the pogroms and violence that followed, culminating in the atrocities of 2009.

When the Sinhala Only Bill was passed in 56, uncle had to read it out as news on Radio Ceylon and had to cover stories of its implementation. Uncle was also a news reader during the 58 ethnic riots and the 76 and 78 pogroms.

Uncle's time at Radio Ceylon, his time in parliament and our years in India, the UK and Australia as a refugee during which time he yearned to return to our country of birth, had a profound effect on him. His resulting grief stayed with him right until his last days in Australia. In 1959, I graduated with a BA in Arts from Peradeniya University. My family never thought I would get a place in the university, as it was a difficult entrance exam. In those days, the results were announced in the English newspapers. But in our home, we only read Tamil newspapers. My father's friend saw the results and sent the paper to our home, with my name underlined, through another friend. I also had the option of entering a Teachers Training College to study teacher training, which required a less competitive mark than university studies. My school principal, the late Miss Thambiah, however encouraged me to enrol in university and promised me that I would have a job back at our school, Vembadi Girls’ High School, when I had finished my degree.

In Jaffna, education was mainly segregated into male and female schools. In certain schools, at the higher levels there was mixed education. So university was where I first met men, outside my immediate family. It was also the first time I met Sinhalese students. There were about fifty Tamil students and two or three hundred Sinhalese students. We enjoyed our single rooms and ate in a dining hall with fork and spoon. We were served a lot of beef and so I became a vegetarian. University is where I tasted cheese for the first time. Our education was free, and our living expenses were minimal. Those of us who remember the days of no ethnic divide, will remember university as a wonderful experience. Those days we had the best of everything in Sri Lanka - free education and free medical services. Everything was good, till the politicians of the majority community poisoned the minds of the people against the minorities living in the country. I think that now it's too late for change. The poison has sunk in too deep. After my studies, I returned to Jaffna and started teaching at my high school. I was so happy and I had many dreams of helping my siblings, who were excelling in their studies. But a marriage proposal to uncle came my way in 1961 and though I had a lot of ambitions and wasn’t keen on it, it was my parents wish and so I obliged. After our wedding, I joined uncle in Colombo where we had a comfortable life, like most middle class families. I got a job at the Muslim Ladies College in Bambalapitya Colombo. Teaching in a multicultural environment was another unforgettable experience. Our move to Chennai in 1980 was not my decision and nor was I in favour of it. Our only daughter Subhadra had just sat for her OL exam and was keen to continue her bharathanatyam studies, while we wanted her to attend university. It came as a rude shock when one morning in January 1980 uncle asked me to sign my retirement papers. He explained there was an option for lady teachers to retire after twenty years of service, which i had just completed, and I could avail myself of that facility. He said I could go to Chennai to educate Subhadra in the Fine Arts (music and dance), while at the same time help her to get a degree in Arts/Science. My school principal refused to endorse the papers as I was in the process of being appointed as principal of the newly built Colombo Hindu Ladies College. I was appalled! Who would throw away everything so good? I was in a dilemma but my husband solved it for me. He said “a decision has been made, let us not go back on it”. He said that Tamils couldn’t live in Sri Lanka in peace anymore and that political unrest was simmering. He said that he no longer wanted to live like a fugitive in his country of birth ‘his தாய் நாடு’ and that after translating the venomous speeches of the Sinhalese Members in parliament, he had spent many years of sleepless nights. He said that at least in Tamil Nadu we would feel a sense of familiarity and could continue to be part of the Tamil culture and language. He reminded me that we had to seek refuge in a Muslim friend’s house during the 1977 pogrom and that our daughter had no chance of entering university with the government’s standardisation policy which penalised Tamil students. So in Jan 1980 I retired and we left for Madras, our home for the next twenty years. There were only three other Tamil families from Sri Lanka who had settled down in Chennai after the first pogrom in 1958 and they all welcomed us graciously. Mr and Mrs Sivapathasundaram had made Adyar their home, the suburb which would become our home too. Mr Sivapathasundaram was a renowned broadcaster at Radio Ceylon and a popular Tamil writer on par with Indian writers. He was the one who gave the name Thamilosai to BBC Tamil Radio. We realised theirs was a life of struggle even after spending nearly three decades in Tamil Nadu. Our years in Chennai were also tough, and those who came to visit us were shocked to see how we were living in a single room annex. In 1982, we received a surprise phone call from the BBC asking uncle if he would come and work as the Tamil radio producer for one year, while Mr Shankaramoorthy, the then producer, took one year of medical leave. In uncle’s previous trips to the UK he had acted in some of the BCC Thamilosai’s radio dramas and so they were familiar with his talents. Subha had entered Stella Marie’s College, so we put her in the college hostel and set off on our year long UK adventure. We could have stayed on after our contract was over by taking part in radio programmes, however uncle said that he wanted to listen to carnatic music and hear Tamil in his ears - காதிலே தமிழும் பாட்டும் கேட்கவேணும் ! So after our stay in the UK was over, we flew straight to Colombo, with the hope of settling back there. After about 10 days of visiting our families in Jaffna, uncle, again said that he felt something bad was going to happen and he wanted to get back to Chennai. I again didn’t want to leave. I missed our family and they missed us. We had nobody in Chennai. Uncle however insisted that we had to return to see our daughter Subha and once again said “I don’t want to be a second class citizen in my own country”. We arrived back in Chennai in May 1983. In July when the pogrom against the Tamils started in Colombo, those who had money, got on planes and arrived at our doorstep. Over the following six months, at least a hundred Tamils made their way to our home straight from the airport. We helped them find temporary accommodation to begin with, then a home and a school for their children. We became local guardians to hundreds of children, as this was a government requirement. There were number of challenges we faced as guardians - illness - exam failures - two missing students - but we were thankful we could help them. Those who could afford to sent their children to other foreign countries. Thanks to the BBC, we had a telephone, which became so useful for the many Eelam Tamils who would line up outside and inside our home to use it. One night, we had more than 20 people sleep in our tiny annex. Those nights were tough, but what were we to do? Uncle, who looked to life’s positives, would often tell us that he was grateful that we got out in time and didn’t have to go through the trauma of watching our people being massacred. He was even more thankful that we were in a position to be able to help those that did escape. After hearing of the massacres and the burnings of the 83 pogrom, the people of Tamll Nadu became sympathetic to our cause and opened up their homes for rent. MGR, was the Chief Minister at the time, and said all Eelam Tamils could be accepted into schools in Tamil Nadu. For those who didn’t have money and escaped the island by boat, they were kept in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, and their plight was and still is an incredibly sad one. Many are still there with very little protection or hope for a better future. We were the lucky few and though we never returned to live in our country, we have a lot to be thankful for. In the years that followed, uncle became BCC’s Thamilosai correspondent for Tamilnadu, which allowed us to continue living in the India and provided us with a permanent income. Thanks To BBC, we were also able to get a visa to visit our daughter in Australia. After uncle passed away in Australia after a tragic accident in 2001, I did not want to go back to India and all my family members had left Sri Lanka by then. I stayed on with my daughter's family as a refugee for 12 long years. It was a period of struggle and great uncertainty, thanks to the Australian government. I was finally granted Australian Citizenship in 2017. END In 1999 Dr Maunaguru, a close friend, turned audio recordings by uncle about his life into a book titled ‘Mana Osai -Reminiscences of a Broadcaster‘. Uncle was not keen on the book idea, but he agreed on one condition that the book when published would be distributed free - he said everyone has a story to tell so it's not fair to make money off it. Aunty’s grandson Senthan is now also a radio broadcaster and co-hosts the popular podcast Stuck in Between.

#TamilStories #SurvivalStories #EelamTamils

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enz-fan · 6 years ago

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Juke magazine - 3 May 1980 front cover and article, by Christie Eliezer

TIM FINN well remembers Split Enz’s first ever Melbourne performance - they were soundly booed off stage.

It was in 1975, and Reckless Red Symons, having seen them at Sydney’s Oceanic Hotel and inevitably falling in love with their sense of theatre and originality, suggested to Skyhooks manager/record label boss Michael Gudinski that Enz play at the next major ‘Hooks gig...

“It was some time in late April (Anzac Day actually - ed) and it was at the Festival Hall, The Skyhooks were causing untold hysteria then. Gudinski, who’s only heard about our outrageous stage costumes and makeup was telling everybody that we were the second Skyhooks,” Finn said.

“We had to get up at six in the morning that day, and by the time we got into Melbourne, we only had an hour’s sleep before making our way to the hall. Consequently by the time we came on, we were very tired and irritable.

“It was such a bad introduction to Melbourne. The audience there was so into the Skyhooks that all through the show they were pulling faces, and throwing cans and cigarette butts at us.”

Finn leans back with the confidence of one who’s left his yesterdays far enough behind to be able to chuckle over them. “It was weird... no it wasn’t, it was disgusting, that’s the only way you can describe it. And we lost a lot of support from the media on that one. They saw us totally out of context, and it was a long time before a lot of them would bother about Split Enz again.”

Still, five years later and it’s over under sideways down. While the Skyhooks last single gasped for airplay. “I Got You” and True Colours are simultaneously seated at the top of the Australian charts. It’s been some years since such a double whammy has happened for an Australian band. Two weeks ago, when this interview took place, the single had sold 13,000 copied in the first three days of the week. By the time you read this “I Got You” should have sailed over the platinum mark - and you know how hard platinum singles are to get, particularly for Oz-made discs.

And the younger sisters of those dedicated Skyhooks fans who’d been so hostile to the Enz, are these days shrieking at Enz concerts, standing outside Mushroom Records’ offices hoping for a glimpse of them or pasting up pinup pictures of the country’s most recent - and unlikeliest - teen idol, Neil Finn.

Split Enz themselves have since then been drifting through different universes anyway. Only Finn, Noel Crombie and Eddie Rayner remain from that bunch of ill-dressed weird freak-outs who created a large cult following through their mixture of self indulgence, witty ideas, and acid casualty detachment. It’s true that once they managed to establish their unique concept of theatre and sense of adventure in their musical presentation, instead of having to live up to Gudinski’s absurd preconeptions, they won acclaim. But in the few times I got dragged off to one of their early concerts, kicking and shrieking all the way, they always left me stone cold bored.

“In a lot of ways, we hid behind our images,” admits Finn, who now accepts that a lot of their music in those days was self-indulgent and aimless. “It was a way we could keep our distance from the audience. I think, like most New Zealanders we’re all shy in varying degrees. But nowadays I’ve become much more confident as a performer. I can reach out to them more, to the point of sometimes actually touching them to gain a response.”

Gone too is Finn’s onstage patter, speaking in arty-farty first year university English Lit couplets. Still, there is a strong dose of bemused cynicism in his onstage yakkings, and I’m pretty sure a lot of it goes over the heads of their newer, younger audiences.

“Well, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s all done for reaction. You can’t get too basic or else you become patronising.”

You can take the man out of theatre, but you can’t take the theatre out of the man?

I looked at my watch, and it was a quarter to two...

What are rock’n’roll weirdos like Split Enz doing in the lush stately grounds of the Ripponlea estate, a symbol of a bygone aristocratic/traditional era in Melbourne and now a National Trust and tourist attraction?

Making a film clip for their next single, Tim Finn’s tender ballad, “I Thought I Never”, a standout in their show.

As you crunch up the shaded, sandy driveway which curves through luxuriant flower beds, with the mansion in the distance, you’re overwhelmed by a strong sense of history, you half expect to be met by a white-helmeted pukka sahib complete with monacle and starched handlebar moustache, seated in a horse drawn buggy. What you do find is an assortment of dusty trucks and station wagons with camera crews and roadies lugging equipment out to the main ballroom - polished floors, chandeliers, gold plated mirrors and sin-soaked memories - where the main clip will be shot.

We’re told by Mushroom to turn up at 1 pm sharp to watch Enz filming and chat to the band in between breaks. Photographer Drew and myself wander in at 1:30 to find only two Enzers in sight, in a makeshift dressing room, littered with Ballroom costumes. Tim Finn is sipping champagne as he gets his face made up. Noel Crombie is busy ironing some more costumes. Tim Finn is sipping champagne as he gets his face made up. Noel Crombie is busy ironing some more costumes, typically unsmiling. Neil Finn strolls in casually thirty minutes later, followed by Eddie Rayner.

Representatives from other magazines are there as well. The Enz keep to themselves, none of this hail-felllow-well-met chummy routine. So the men of the media wander back into the sunshine and sit in an outside stone balcony, gossiping and watching the tame peacocks strut past gardeners toiling over the flower beds in the hot Indian summer afternoon.

“One of the things that makes the Enz one of the most creative bands in this country is that they’re very rarely of their image,” says TV Week’s affable Greg Noakes (he’s the one who took the stunning photograph of Cold Chisel on their Breakfast At Sweethearts cover). “At least 70% to 80% of the acts that I take pictures of don’t have a clue what they want out of the session, or how they want themselves projected.

“I’m not going to name names but there’s one top group which I did recently that just could not give a damn. Enz of course have streamlined their outrage since but that accent on the visuals is still as strong. They’ll tell you how they want to come across, and that’s the way it should be.”

While the two Finn boys are the most visual in Enz, others have their roles in the machinery. Noel Crombie for instance might be low profile and almost dispensable onstage (he plays the spoons and assorted percussive instruments) but he’s definitely Enz’s creative genius. His tremendous shyness and eccentricity manifests itself in the flamboyance of their costumes and the sheer vision of their film clips.

Even now, while it’s acknolwedged that the series of film clips coming in from overseas are the most creative in rock by far, most of them are actually covering grounds that Enz blazed in this country at least five years ago.

While Eddie Rayner has an amazing technical mind (his girlfriend Raelyn works the lights for the band), bassist Nigel Griggs is the more practical and businessminded. Drummer Malcolm Green is the most “normal” and “extrovert” as Enz get.

I looked at my watch and it was a quarter to four...

As the evening shadows inch over the stone forecourt, Tim Finn emerges from the makeup room in full costume - black tuxedo, while silk scarf, orange socks - and wanders over to where the media persons are chatting with manager Nathan Brenner, the latter dressed in a blazing yellow’n’red frilled jumpsuit... for film clip purposes, you understand.

“Did you say they’d start soon... ten minutes? Good.” Finn settles himself in a chair and botts a cigarette off somebody. “It’s different filming in a studio because you can create the atmosphere Here, in a place like this, it’s harder to control it.”

We start chatting about True Colours, it’s success, and how it’s the album Enz always wanted to make. I say it worked so well because they weren’t so consciously trying to Create Art, just damn good pop-rock music.

Finn doesn’t bat an eye. “It was a case of strealining it back to the basics really. I still like listening to this album while some of the earlier stuff was a bit... er, self indulgent. There are a lot of good radio hit tracks on it. I love listening to ‘I Got You’ when it comes on the radio, and God knows, I’ve heard it so many times already.”

One Sydney DJ suggested that after being so ahead of their time, tastes had changed enough for people to finally catch up to the Enz? What did he think of that?

“I don’t know... I hesitate to say that, because it sounds so arrogant. But having said that, in a lot of ways we were ahead of our time. For instance, the haircuts we had in ‘74 and’75 are now in vogue, although somewhat modified.”

Offstage Finn is a regular Dr. Jekyll to the energetic Mr Hyde he portrays under the spotlight. A quiet and private person, he is dedicated to the band. He hates doing interviews, but does them because they’re a necessary evil. Brenner informs him that one of the magazine wants to photograph him with New Zealand cabaret singer Tina Cross. Finn scowls because he can’t see how a photograph is going to help Enz, and he’s not not crazy about her music either. He eventually relents, but his curt demeanor as he does it makes it clear to everyone, including Ms Cross, that he’s done it under protest.

It takes Tim thirsty minutes to wind down after a performance and push the adrenalin flow back to normal. He’s not a violent person at all, but during the recent tour he angrily slammed the door in the face of a Brisbane photographer who ignored the “no one in Enz’s dressing room thirty minutes before and after the show.”

Very reflective, determined and cynical, it’s what you’d expect from someone who’s the original surviving member of the band that got together in New Zealand eight years ago, almost touched the pot of gold at the end of the huge rainbow, but had it whisked away by the hand of fate.

Remember how everything looked so rosy for the Enz in the mid-Seventies. Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, who was touring here at the time, dug them so much that he insisted on producing their second album Second Thoughts.

They went to England where the English rock press wet its pants over them. Melody Maker declared “they are one of the few bands of any originality to have emerged over the last 12 months, they may even prove to be the most intriguing combo to join the rock and roll circus since Roxy Music.” Their U.K. label Chrysalis were so determined that they’d be the next big thing that they spent a fortune publicising the band. Nibbles into America proved favourable. A Frenz of the Enz cult following developed in England and Europe.

The dream soured just as quickly. Such an intense creative band had to have its intense personality clashes, of course, and they went through four changes in 19 months.

But if there’s eomthing about Split Enz, it’s been their strong determination and the sense of challenge they feel in seeking out the unknown.

One was going back to working the pubs and developing a grass roots following. The music became streamlined. They tried working with a virtually unknown English engineer/produced called David Tickle. Their first collaboration, ‘I See Red’ saw the Enz get their first National Top 10 single. Pleased with this, they decided to use Tickle in work on their next album. The rest, as they sayin the soap operas, is history.

“We were both looking for each other,” Finn says. “We needed a producer like him, and he was looking for a band like us.”

In a recent interview, Finn confessed that Tickle had provided a “psychological climate” for the band. What did he mean by that?

“Well, it wasn’t just a business relationship, David became a very good friend of the band’s. Obviously when you’re recording, you’re not as good in all aspects of it. Like possibly your vocal harmonies might not be up to scratch. It then takes someone who can bolster up your confidence at that point of time. I know it sounds corny, but you need someone you can depend on.”

Neil Finn wanders over, dressed in a white and pink jacket. The younger Finn had been Enz’s biggest gamble, when they replaced the prolific and adventurous Judd with someone as inexperienced as he. It worked. Onstage his confidence has escalated, although he’s still wary of people he doesn’t know. Every time he answered a question, he’d always glance at his older brother as if needing his assurance.

More than any of the others, he handles the new responsibilities as Enz now also appeals to a younger, screaming audience. He’s forever willing to make in-store appearances and do interviews because the band’s status warrants it. He’s warmed to his new role as a pinup boy.

“It’s a strange situation to be in,” he laughs. “Because, after all, none of us in this band are what you’d call pretty.”

Would you have believed five years ago that some day young females would be screaming at Split Enz and mooning over them as idols. The mind certainly boggles.

At this stage, Split Enz are carefully taking the new found adulation in stride. Rather than cash in by rushing out and playing all the big pubs again and making a lot of money (Brimmer claims he could get $4,000 a night from a one night stint at the Bondi Lifesaver in Sydney) they intend to stay off the road for a few more weeks and then do some work around Perth.

“It’s so easy to get over-exposed in a country like this.” They’re all very keen that their credibility doesn’t get blown with sudden success. Over the next week, too, they’ll start to rehearse the material for their next album, due out in October.

And, surely, Split Enz are dying to get back to have another crack at the English market. After all, considering the way they’ve stuck together through the bad period, this is obviously the strongest Enz lineup to date.

“There have been some nibbles... obviously we’d like to get back there and try it again. But at the same time we’d still like to work to consolidate ourselves in this country, get better acquainted with our new audience. I think the time is just right for us in England, their Top 40 is the most adventurous in the world.

“‘I See Red’ was released there recently. It sold well enough to prove there are still people out there who can remember us, but didn’t get airplay. It’s funny you know, but there are still fans there who hunt us down and write us letters. But this time when we go back there we’ll be more prepared. We’re so aware of the need for a publicist, someone who knows the right people and can get to them.”

“Not much different here.” mutters someone who shall remain nameless.

‘I looked at my watch and it was a quarter to five...

And they’re finally ready to start shooting, kept waiting a further half an hour by an extra. The film clip depicts the band in the aftermath of a wild ball, streamers and balloons everywhere. Last minute adjustments to the sound levels, the tension is unbearable. Tim Finn kicks a balloon around the floor. Eddie Rayner and Nigel Griggs jam on a fast blues and the record finally booms over the microphone.

I fall apart when you’re around, When you’re here, I’m nowhere, I can’t pretend that I’m not down, I show it, I know it...”

Finn steps down from the stage to the dance floor, still miming:

I’ve been a fool more than once, more than twice. I’m gonna move

“Cut!”

It’s a mistake and has to be re-shot. Split Enz are so perfectionist, so unflinching they try again.

“Take two.”

The record booms over the P.A. again. Thirty minutes of that and “Cut!” Yes, it’s a take. Now for the next scene.

And so they piece it together through the whole night, trying out different ideas, always willing to score a better take. For a scene where T. Finn has to waltz alone in the garden, they use floodlights and keep on going. Finally as the eastern clouds streak a tinge of pink and yellow, exhausted bodies yawningly carry the equipment back to the station wagons and head off.

The clock in the main mallroom read 6.10 as the last of the trucks roars off through the steel gates in a cloud of dust.

And when the day breaks in our stately home we'll sit Remembering those nights before our hearts were set Hoping is not enough to live upon With such a far far cry I can't go wrong

- Judd-Finn, “Maybe” from Mental Notes, 1975

And all we’ll see on our TV screens will be a little over three minutes of it.

#splitenz #1980 #favourite

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jeremystrele · 5 years ago

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A Day In The Life Of Artist, Designer And Small Businesswoman, Rachel Castle

A Day In The Life

Sasha Gattermayr

Rachel at the CASTLE studio with Sydney the sausage dog. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

A morning walk around the neighbourhood with Sydney. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Rachel starts a morning at the office with a coffee from Ona in Marrickville. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Rachel and the team! Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

The ever-bubbly, gorgeous Rachel Castle! Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

The studio slash office is filled with prints, inspiration and works-in-progress. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Chatting with Design and Production Manager, Simone. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

There is no shortage of colourful paints to play with lying around! Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

There is always time in Rachel’s day for sketching, painting and drawing. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

A true artist’s space! Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Rachel started embroidering in the evening when her kids were little and in bed. Now, she has to do it in the early hours of the morning before her team arrive at work! Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Rachel gets into the studio early to sew, and catch up on TV! Her current favourite is ‘Ramy’. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Swathes and swatches of fabric in rainbow shades. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

A piece in construction. Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

It’s the mark of a true creative spirit when they spend every spare second making something for the sake of it. This was how it all began for Rachel Castle, who picked up embroidery in the early hours of the evening when her young kids were in bed, the only time she had to herself during their childhood years. It was here that her true calling revealed itself.

But before she was an artist, designer, and the director of her own small business, Rachel’s professional life meandered from PR to marketing. She and friends Alex Willcock and Russell Pinch used to run a branding company in the United Kingdom, but when their second child was born, Rachel left the business to become a full-time mother. She considers this the best decision she ever made.

‘I believe you can definitely have everything in life, just not all at once,’ she says. ‘I was never conscious of a path, I just worked with people and product I loved, and the rest worked itself out.’ Though the meandering route she describes is encouraging for others who might be in the same working-it-all-out boat, it undersells the seriously hard work Rachel has done in establishing her cult lifestyle brand. Between her firm focus on keeping her business small and practice-based, and the overtime hours she clocked developing her distinct artistic style over the years, Rachel is a tenacious, self-made professional.

Rachel took TDF around her heavenly Marrickville studio where we spent a day in her sunny, colourful world. Her creativity knows no bounds!

FIRST THING

I’m definitely a morning person. My husband recently retired which means (hallelujah!) for the first time in a decade I can go to work whenever I want. For years I had to scramble around to find the time to work, but now I’m free as a bird, which is an amazing feeling. If I wake and can’t sleep at 5am I go to work, but generally, I’m in the car by about seven. I don’t do social media in the mornings, I’m too old and can’t handle the early morning scramble to find my glasses and get three sentences together that make sense, so I just amble around quietly and slowly, a way better and nicer way to start each morning.

It’s a half-hour drive to work so lately I’ve been listening, for the first time in my life, to a really good AM radio station. During the protests its had some really diverse speakers, activists, writers, artists, poets. I’m converted! Also, I can’t work out how to change it back to FM so I’ll leave it here until the end of 2020 and see what else I can learn.

As soon as I arrive in Marrickville I grab a coffee from Ona down the road, and get straight to it.

MORNING

Emails and DMs…. Omg there are so many. I check all the inboxes and delegate where necessary and then, best part of the day, I sew and watch TV until the girls arrive at 9. The earlier I get to work the longer I can spend watching anything from Homeland to Ramy to The Real Housewives; this is my junk time and I LOVE IT. Sewing for me is like getting a massage or going for a run or doing yoga, it’s my outta body knock-knock-there’s no-one home time.

The girls slowly start to arrive and its the normal chit chat (‘Where did you go last night? Did the NBN guy come? Where’d you get your pants from?’) and then we all move into getting the orders out for the day, getting the artworks signed, the tea towels sewn and the commissions sorted. I potter around watering the plants, and mid-morning try to sort something with our Wholesale and Web Content lead, AJ, for socials, a little video or pics for our stories or a new wall for our studio. FINALLY having the space in our studio for a bed has transformed the way we spend our days as there’s so much bed-making and wall painting to be done!

There’s really no routine to the morning, I just go creatively wherever I feel the need, I might try to cut up some new embroideries, or prepare some canvases for painting, or do some little watercolours on paper. So by lunchtime, I’ve generally got 7,000 things started and not a single thing completed (not joking) every single day of the week.

AFTERNOON

Generally at around 3pm we all have a heart attack and realise, ‘OMG! It’s 3 o’clock!’. The girls get some lunch and I get ready to spend some time with Simone, CASTLE’s design and production lead. No two days are the same, but this week we’ve been working on our new towel shoot with Stephanie Somebody, and an upcoming collaboration with Gorman, some new sweater designs and our next Spring/Summer range. In between there are all the usual production issues!

During COVID-19 the Indian ports were closed for a month and a lot of our suppliers are on skeleton staff, so it’s been a very challenging period for us and for them. It’s very slowly getting back to normal, and we hope and pray things for India start to improve soon. Over the years we’ve become very close to our suppliers, they are as much a part of our family as our customers, we send them love.

LATE AFTERNOON

From the minute I wake up I start chanting my mantra….. ‘I will do more painting today, I will do more painting today.’ It only ever happens around 5pm and recently I’ve been coming to terms with this. I’ve tried LITERALLY everything to get more time painting but I just can’t do it. So I’ve started reframing the narrative, and now I’m grateful that I get an hour to do it at all. The advantage of having grown children with no more play dates and park visits is I can go into work on the weekend, where I can smash out a thousand brush strokes in an hour. Time stops in the studio on the weekend, it’s an incredibly peaceful place to be.

EVENING

I’m home every single weeknight by 7.15pm. I love my drive home, this is my time to ring my mother and speak to my friends on the phone. It’s just me and the boys at home, so we eat together and Lucas goes off to study (apparently). He’s in Year 12 so a big year for him where we all try to be as quiet and gentle as we can. Cleo moved home too during COVID-19, and I have to say the family time has been nice!

I don’t cook or go to the supermarket anymore (SOUND THE TRUMPETS) and it’s the best part of my new older life, so the evenings for me are spent eating and then doing my social media… then falling asleep reading with my glasses on and then trying to find all the right creams for my face at 10.30pm. Then snooze and sleep like a baby.

Photo – Alisha Gore for The Design Files.

Right now I’m listening to/watching/reading…

Watching Ramy I laugh and cry from one scene to the next, it’s teaching me a lot about Islamic culture and religion. It’s hilariously funny and, equally, really tackles the big issues, it’s really good.

Reading A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It’s a beautiful Indian tale covering the country’s growth over the past 30 years. Knowing the history of this beautiful country is really important to me.

Listening to any podcast I can get my hands on, and always a daily dose of Dan Savage!

One important thing I do every day is…

Eat dinner with my family. Every weekday of our lives, it’s a deal breaker for me.

I get my best work done when…

I’m in the studio by myself with my music on and my phone switched off.

A philosophy I live and work by is…

Touch it once. Emails, DMs, designs, products. Going back to something we discussed yesterday doesn’t work for me. We resolve it on the spot, or resolve it to a point where we can pick it up later. I never say ‘Let’s sleep on it’, which means I make mistakes, but we need to keep moving because inertia is the DEVIL!

My productivity tip/tool is…

Definitely the above, touching it once.

Something I learned the hard way is…

Don’t put a whole range on pre-order just before a pandemic… note to self!

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scootdogguniverse-blog · 6 years ago

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Final Assignment

Since I was a young boy I have always wanted to travel to new and different lands. There is something so fascinating about everyday people “doing life” like you and me, but in a much different way. It is like discovering life on another planet. There are different creatures, languages, technology, traditions and ways of living. Throughout these thoughts and dreams there has always been one place that stood out the most to me. A place that I knew I must study, visit, and hopefully sojourn to. Australia, from all appearances is it’s own planet. It seemingly floats between several different seas and the Indian Ocean mostly by itself. It has several other islands around like Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and New Zealand but boarders with no one. Whether it’s the incredible natural sights, funny accents, exotic animals, or the unique culture this place is a must see. Thankfully this course has afforded me an opportunity to look at Australia through a different lens. I have learned there are several things to know and consider before taking a journey to the “land down under”.

In so many ways Australia is culturally very close to the United States. If you are traveling from another English speaking country you will more than likely feel very comfortable. Over 75% of the continent is English speaking with Mandarin being the 2ndmost used language. In some places you may run into Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese, and Italian but these languages combined only amount to just under 8% of the population. Like the US, most Australians have similar expectations when it comes to communication. They are an affective communicating culture that is reliant on gestures, tonality and body language. Their “personal bubble” also mirrors the US with standing at least one arm’s length when speaking. They do believe in shaking hands and looking each other in the eye when speaking. This makes meeting people easier knowing we greet each other the same and both are low context cultures. Australia is home to a small population of Aboriginal Australians who do not follow the same set of cultural norms.

Australia is a safe and stable continent with a working democracy and stable political environment. It is a country that allows freedom of religion, which allows them to be home to many different spiritual beliefs. That being said the country is over 50% Christian and around 20% with no religion. Another similarity to the US the country has created a class system we are familiar with a working class, middle class, and upper class. In these class systems their views on gender roles and how each are treated is viewed as equal. Australian culture is big on attempting to have men and women treated equally and afforded equal opportunities. This is a topic that our own country has worked hard on improving as well.

One of the things people love most about traveling to other countries is the food. Thankfully Australians eat similar food and times as the US. Just like any other place Australia has its well know treats that most visitors look forward to eating like Tim Tams, Anzac biscuits, toast with vegemite, and fairy bread but the country is filled with so much more. Australia has a unique blend of dishes and multicultural adaptations from its many different inhabitants. If you are looking for seafood then a plate of Barramundis is what you are looking for. This fish is a type of sea bass that is found in and around the continent and is a very popular dish in Australia. If it is dessert you crave then order yourself Pavlova. A dish that locals say was created in Australia, Pavlova is a meringue cake base topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

This wonderful country did not happen over night. Though it has similarities to the US in some of its growth, it has several events that make Australia unique and different from other countries. In 1606 the first European both landed and mapped Australia. The gold rush in the mid 1800’s helped bring many new migrants to Australia. This helped form the foundations to many of the major cities their today. In 1901, the Constitution of Australia along with their very first flag was created. Just like the US, one year later in 1902 Women’s Suffrage took place. Later, in 1975 Medibank was introduced which later was renamed Medicare. This system of healthcare is given to all of the countries citizens and is considered one of the best systems in the world. In 2010 Australia had its very first female Prime Minister in Julia Gillard.

The people of Australia learn about events like these through their 2 national newspapers The Australian and The Australian Financial Review. They also have many state and regional newspaper that are in circulation. In terms of radio, they are controlled by many of the US companies that run our radio system like ABC. There are also several hundred publicly funded radio stations. In the world of entertainment Australia does have a successful film and music industry. Although most countries have a hard time competing with the US, Australia has seen great success in this arena. Some Australian films that have been both successful in both AUS and the US include: Crocodile Dundee, Happy Feet, Peter Rabbit, Babe, and The Great Gatsby. Since our cultures are so similar it is easy for Australians to create content that is easily consumable for Americans. Several of these are children’s films, which typically are successful here in the US. The other two are character pieces following the life of two unique individuals.

When visiting this beautiful country there is so many unique natural places to visit. It is also equally important to visit places and cities that make Australia what it is. One of those places being the capital of Australia, which is Canberra. Some might wonder why Melbourne or Sydney was not selected as the capital. Although these two cities are some of the largest it was decided that a good compromise would be Canberra. When visiting Australia it seems silly to not visit the country’s “crown jewel” Sydney. Sydney is home to so many iconic building and images that most people think of when thinking about Australia. Known, as the cultural capital of Australian Melbourne is my next must see city. For beautiful sights with a laid back feel Cairns is the place. Surrounded by rainforest, The Great Barrier Reef, and Crystal Blue waters this place is one to behold

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning more about this wonderful place. It has done nothing but solidified my desire to go there. I’ve learned of the beautiful sights and rich history. I have even explored some of my fears with traveling and some threats I may encounter. Despite all of that, none of them are worth me not experiencing Australia. I hope what I have found will help you in the same way it has helped me.

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radiohaanji · 4 days ago

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#Australian punjabi news channel #Punjabi Australian News #Australia Indian radio station #radio station in Melbourne #Australian radio stations in Punjabi #Indian radio stations sydney#Matrimony #Haanji Rishte

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saumya-us · 3 months ago

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#australia Indian radio station #punjabi radio station #Melbourne Indian Radio station #best punjabi fm radio #punjabi radio station Australia #radio station in Melbourne #Punjabi youtube channel #punjabi hit songs Sydney

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pharmaphorumuk · 7 years ago

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Digital health round-up: Australia’s e-health record nightmare

Australia is one of many countries grappling with digital health records, and its scheme known as My Health Record has got off to a nightmare start amid concerns about its security.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has publicly committed to having his own My Health Record – yet at the same time tens of thousands of Australians opted out of the scheme that has been criticised by a former government digital health guru.

This week saw the beginning of a three-month period during which Australians can choose whether or not to opt out from the federal government’s programme, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

But according to Australia’s ABC News website, the man Turnbull appointed to transform the Commonwealth’s digital public health services said he would probably opt out of the scheme.

Paul Shelter, the former head of the Digital Transformation Agency said he would “probably” withdraw if he were an Australian citizen.

He reportedly said the settings on the website were “problematic” as they require users to arrange their own setting rather than defaulting to a more private set-up.

This only makes sense for an opt-in system, rather than an opt-out system, said Shelter.

Turnbull told radio station 3AW that the scheme has the “highest security” after it emerged that 20,000 people opted out online.

Meanwhile those trying to withdraw on the phone complained on social media that waiting times were longer than an hour – which the Australian Digital Health Agency blamed on the high caller volume.

The Sydney Morning Herald article cites University of New South Wales law lecturer Katharine Kemp, who said the privacy policy on My Health Record spans 7,800 words.

This is four times the wordcount of one in a 2016 census and longer than the online privacy policies for Google and the Commonwealth Bank.

It would take the average person 30 minutes to read the policy, Dr Kemp told the website.

Digital Health VC investment reaches record high

Venture capitalist funding for digital health products reached an all-time high-water mark of $4.9 billion in the first six months of 2018.

The latest figures from Mercom Capital Group show that the upsurge revealed in the same company’s first-quarter report continues apace.

According to Mercom there were 383 digital health deals in the first six months of this year and spending this year looks set to exceed the record of $7.2 billion set last year according to Mercom.

VC funding in April-June held strong at $2.4 billion – in the first quarter Mercom reported that VC spending on digital health was $2.5 billion.

Total corporate funding in digital health, including VC, debt, and public market financing also touched a record high of $4.4 billion compared with $3 billion in the first quarter.

Amazon interested in Indian pharmacy chain?

Rumours that Amazon is looking to increase its influence in health abound – and the latest is that it considering an investment in MedPlus, the second largest pharmacy chain in India.

The companies have neither confirmed nor denied the rumours, and Amazon’s spokesperson told Reuters: “We do not comment on what we may do or may not do in the future”.

But a local tech news website, Factor Daily, quoted a source from venture company helping Amazon with the deal, who wants to remain unidentified.

According to an article published on its website, “there have been preliminary discussions between Amazon and MedPlus”.

Details are not known, however, Factor Daily reports that Amazon has a “serious intent to build a definitive pharmacy play in India”.

MedPlus’s founder, Madhukar Gangadi, opened the first pharmacy in 2006 in Hyderabad and since them quickly grew the company into an emporium with over 1,400 stores and 10,000 employees.

Back in 2015 Gangadi launched MedPlusMart, an online pharmacy and general store which is currently the biggest e-pharmacy in India.

India’s pharmacy market attracts foreign investors as it offers higher margins compared to other consumer products. The local buyers are not used to discounts, which makes it a relatively profitable business for e-commerce companies to enter, comparing to other regions in the world.

Analysts also see India as an important growth market for the US e-commerce giant, which expects groceries and household products to account for over half of its business in India in the next five years.

The possible investment in India comes barely a month after Amazon acquired the US online pharmacy PillPack for nearly $1 billion expanding its activities into the pharmaceutical market in the US.

The buyout disrupted pharma shares and wiped out nearly $11 billion stock prices of conventional pharmacy chains like Rite Aid, Walgreens and CVS.

The post Digital health round-up: Australia’s e-health record nightmare appeared first on Pharmaphorum.

from Pharmaphorum https://pharmaphorum.com/views-and-analysis/digital-health-round-up-australias-e-health-record-nightmare/

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stuartka06-blog · 4 years ago

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For nearly all medical jobs

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pacificeagles · 7 years ago

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https://pacificeagles.net/surface-raiders-submarines-indian-ocean/

Surface Raiders and Submarines in the Indian Ocean

In 1937 the Osaka Mercantile Steamship line ordered three fast ocean liners for its routes to Africa. The Imperial Japanese Navy, cognizant of the worsening political situation and in the expectation of future wars, insisted that these ships be designed with features which would facilitate their conversion into armed merchant cruisers. Three ships were built – Hokoku Maru, Aikoku Maru and Gokoku Maru. All were fast, having a top speed of 21 knots, and had mounts for up to eight 6-inch guns as well as anti-aircraft weapons and torpedoes. Only the Hokoku Maru actually entered civilian service, albeit for a brief period – the others were requisitioned by the Navy soon after they were completed. A fourth ship of an older design, Kiyozumi Maru, was also requisitioned.

All four ships were planned to be added to the 24th Cruiser Squadron and deployed for commerce raiding in the eastern Pacific, but in the end only two were used in this capacity. Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru were the first to complete conversion, being fitted with eight 5.9-inch guns, four torpedo tubes, two or four anti-aircraft guns, searchlights, and facilities for a pair of E7K Type 94 floatplanes. The other two ships were still being converted when the war broke out, and were destined never to serve as merchant cruisers. Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru were sent to Jaluit in the Marshall Islands prior to the outbreak of hostilities, and from there set out to prey on Allied shipping in the lanes between the US and Australia.

The first victim of the raiders was the steamship Vincent, which was carrying a cargo of rice from Australia to Panama. The ship was sighted on the 13th of December, and was ordered to heave-to but not before she transmitted a distress message. The crew was ordered to abandon ship, and Vincent was sunk by shellfire. The crew were taken aboard as prisoners. A few weeks later, an E7K from Aikoku Maru spotted the freighter Malama heading for the Philippines, radioed a position report, and then vanished without trace. A second floatplane failed to find the first, but re-acquired contact with the Malama on the 2nd of January, near the Cook Islands. The aircraft strafed the freighter and forced her to stop, before the crew set scuttling charges and abandoned ship. The E7K then dropped four small bombs on the Malama, starting a fire, and the ship finally sank. The survivors were soon picked up and thereafter the cruisers returned to Japan, having sunk less than 10,000 tons of shipping.

Indian Ocean Submarine Offensive

Unimpressed with these modest results, the Navy decided to convert the cruisers into auxiliary submarine tenders. They were provided with stowage areas for submarine spare parts and torpedoes and fuel tanks for diesel fuel, and then dispatched to Penang in newly captured Malaya. Here they also swapped their E7Ks for newer and more capable E13A Type 0s. The 24th Cruiser Division was disbanded and Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru were attached to the 8th Submarine Squadron, which was at this time operating in the Indian Ocean in support of an offensive sweep to Ceylon by the Kido Butai.

The twin cruisers arrived at Penang in late April, in time to join the rest of the 8th Submarine Division in an attack on the island of Madagascar. This island was invaded by the British on the 5th of May, and on the same day Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru departed for a raiding cruise in the Indian Ocean in company with five I-boats. These ships made up the Western Attack Unit, a counterpart to the Eastern Attack Unit that was to conduct a simultaneous attack on Sydney, Australia. Three of the submarines – I-16, I-18 and I-20 – carried midget subs for an attack on Diego Suarez harbour, whilst two more – I-10 and I-30 – carried E14Y seaplanes with the intention of reconnoitring various locations on the west coast of Africa. En route to Madagascar, Aikoku Maru captured the Dutch tanker Genota.

I-30 departed for her patrol area first. She arrived off the Horn of Africa in early May, and launched her E14Y for a flight over the port of Aden, in modern-day Yemen, on the 7th of May. The following night the same aircraft flew over the Vichy port of Djibouti in French Somaliland, but came under fire from the various warships in the harbour and aborted the mission without gathering any useful intelligence. Eleven days later the submarine was off Tanganyika, and her aircraft overflew Dar-es-Salaam and nearby Zanzibar island, sighting a pair of merchant ships. I-30 herself then carried out a periscope examination of Mombasa in Kenya, whilst I-10 was busy launching her own E14Y to take a look at Durban, South Africa. This aircraft was spotted and challenged by Morse lamp, but the observer replied with a fake response and the aircraft escaped unharmed.

These reconnaissance missions confirmed that there were no worthwhile targets except for those supporting the British occupation of Madagascar. Accordingly the 8th Submarine Squadron converged on Diego Suarez in late May. On the 29th, I-10 launched her E14Y for an overflight of the harbour. The aircraft spotted a wealth of targets – the battleship Ramillies, a pair of destroyers, and several auxiliary ships. The British spotted the Japanese aircraft and Ramillies got underway amidst an alert, but she later anchored in a different berth. Two nights later, I-16 and I-20 launched their midget submarines, one of which soon penetrated the British defences. Ramillies was torpedoed and badly damaged, as was the tanker British Loyalty, which settled on the shallow bottom but was later refloated. One midget was lost with both crew members, but the second beached and the crew attempted to reach a designated retrieval point. However, the crew was found by a squad of Royal Marines and both were killed. A second flight by I-10’s E14Y failed to spot any sign of the midget crews, and the submarines were released to attack shipping.

Over next two months the ships of the 8th Submarine Squadron terrorised the western Indian Ocean. Aikoku Maru sank the merchant Elysia and then combined with her sister Hokoku Maru to capture the New Zealand ship Hauraki, which was sent back to Japan as a prize. The submarines combined to sink a total of 22 ships totalling over 100,000 tons, there being no convoy system in place for the shipping lanes on the east coast of Africa. The merchant cruisers were used to refuel the submarines to extend their time on station, as well as contributing to the losses of Allied shipping.

The Yanagi Missions

One of the submarines was given a special mission. Since Japan had joined the Tripartite Act which created the ‘Axis’, both the Japanese and the Germans had been keen to establish a route for the exchange of strategic minerals, technology and weapons. Surface raiders and blockade runners were increasingly vulnerable to Allied sea and air power, so the decision was made to attempt the voyage in a long-range submarine. I-30 was to make the first attempt at what the Japanese called ‘Yanagi’ missions. On the 18th of June, she refuelled from Aikoku Maru and then set sail for France under a blanket of radio silence. She was carrying a cargo of mica and shellac, and blueprints for the Type 91 aerial torpedo, as well as her E14Y. Evading South African air patrols, I-30 rounded the Cape of Good Hope at the end of June and headed north. The rest of the voyage was uneventful and I-30 met her escort of patrol planes and minesweepers, which guided her into Lorient on the 5th of August.

The crew was feted by their hosts, with the officers being flown to Berlin to meet Adolf Hitler himself. The Germans meanwhile prepared a cargo to be loaded onto I-30 for the return trip. Her E14Y was offloaded, with Luftwaffe markings applied over the distinctive Hinomaru. The aircraft was left behind so that the hangar space could be used for the precious cargo, which included a Würzburg fire-control radar set, electric submarine torpedoes, torpedo data computers and no less than 50 Enigma encryption machines. The Germans also provided I-30 with a Metox radar warning receiver, which would alert the crew if an aircraft with ASV radar was nearby, and a quad-20mm anti-aircraft battery. I-30 departed from Lorient on August 22nd successfully returned to Penang in October, only to hit a British mine and sink off Singapore. Much of the cargo was recovered but the Würzburg and many blueprints were destroyed.

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Meanwhile the cruisers Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru had returned to Penang. After a brief refit at Singapore to increase stowage space for submarine torpedoes, the two former liners were attached to the Southwest Area Fleet and used to transport an Army infantry division to Rabaul, from where it was deployed to Guadalcanal. This duty completed, both ships returned to Penang once more in October. They departed in early November to resume duty as commerce raiders, entering the Indian Ocean once more on the 7th.

A few days later Hokoku Maru and Aikoku Maru came across the Dutch tanker Ondina, which was sailing from Fremantle to the Persian Gulf, escorted by the corvette HMIS Bengal. The Allied ships were badly outgunned, Ondina being equipped with a single 4-inch gun and Bengal a single 3-inch. Hokoku Maru was leading and engaged the Allied ships, which responded with their meagre armament. However luck was with them, as a lucky hit was scored on Hokoku Maru’s torpedo room, detonating one of the weapons. A fire started, and shortly afterwards her magazine exploded, which blew out her sides and caused her to rapidly sink. Aikoku Maru then arrived and took Bengal under fire, but the corvette escaped after depleting her ammunition. Aikoku Maru raked Ondina with fire, killing her captain, and fired three torpedoes which all missed. Ondina nevertheless looked doomed and so Aikoku Maru collected the survivors from her sister ship before heading back to Penang. Ondina’s crew were able to repair the ship sufficiently for her to return to Fremantle.

This abortive cruise proved to be the last commerce raiding mission undertaken by Japanese auxiliary cruisers. The three remaining ships of the former 24th Cruiser Squadron were instead used as fast transports or troopships. Aikoku Maru was converted into a transport, and had a relatively undistinguished career carrying troops to various locations in the Pacific. On 17th February 1944, the ship was moored in Truk lagoon when the American Task Force 58 struck. Aikoku Maru was hit by a single air-dropped torpedo and was destroyed when her cargo of ammunition exploded. Kiyozumi Maru was sunk the same day, having taken refuge at Truk after being damaged by an American submarine. Gokoku Maru was sunk near Formosa in November 1944 by the American submarine Barb.

#raider #submarine #Burma-India #History

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louderthanbombsus · 7 years ago

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Song notes for Chestnuts – Neil Sims.

Cold Chisel, Khe Sanh (1978): basically the Australian National anthem. Cold Chisel are absolutely one of Australia's best ever pub rock bands. Lyrically brilliant, with a proper alcoholic fighting frontman, wonderful guitarist from Alice Springs (desert - smack bang in the middle of Aus). I absolutely dismissed this band in my youth largely because this song has somehow been adopted as an anthem by Aussie bogans (footy playing meathead types). I cannot fathom why this song has become so anthemic. The lyrics are about a guy returning from the Vietnam war and wanting to get back to Hong Kong to shag Chinese whores! If you go to a pub, and it's choc full of bogans and this tune is played, they will, en masse, yell every word of this song in your face while spilling some of the world's worst beer down your front. It's a kind of bonding thing. Cold Chisel have many other very beautiful songs. Flame Trees is another that often gets mentioned. Check out their album 'East' if you like this kind of thing.

Courtney Barnett, Avant Gardner (2015): Courtney is something of a superstar nowadays. This song comes off the album before she struck it big. Courtenay writes beautifully about life in Melbourne's suburbia. This is the most beautiful song ever written about having an asthma attack. The lyrics at the end "I'm not that good at breathing in" - fantastic.

Saints, I'm stranded (1977): Punk was invented in Australia! This tune pre-dates the Sex-Pistols and appears to have evolved independently. Apparently these guys were shipped to the UKL as Punk was exploding and they didn͛t really like it, so they came back. The guitarist, Ed Keupper, continues to play throughout Australia. In the saints he used a PA for a guitar amp and his sound was based on extreme volume. I like that kind of thing. Anyway, another affirmation of Australian musical heritage.

Black Cab, Heart's on Fire (2007): Melbourne band. We are super lucky to have some of the world's best radio stations in Melbourne - 3RRR and PBS - these funded entirely by subscriptions, and they command a much larger share of the listening audience than they should for their income. Uncensored, very left wing, catering to true music lovers (funny story - Sydney has these right wing shock jocks that basically control our politics through terrifying the public and politicians - same as everywhere. Some super wealthy conservative bastards heavily backed a similar thing in Melbourne and it went bust in a couple of years because we just all ignored them- yay!). Anyway - there is one particular radio show on a Friday afternoon with 'the ghost' who has been on radio for about a thousand years. Somehow, on many occasions, he has played tunes that have been absolutely perfect soundtracks for what I was doing at the time - really quite remarkable. I remember driving in my VW beetle back into Melbourne from some interstate place, and there's this part of the highway coming into town where you get this amazing view of Melbourne City. I was kinda feeling odd about being in Melbourne at the time, and the ghost played this tune at exactly the point where you this amazing view emerges from the highway and open fields. It shaped my feelings about Melbourne. Good tune, too.

Warumpi-band, Black Fella, white fella (1985): Like every country that has been colonized by white people, there is a strong movement in Australia to recognize and respect our indigenous (aboriginal) cultural heritage. I strongly support our indigenous aspirations. This was one of the first tunes by an indigenous band that I can recall hitting the record charts. Bit of a classic.

The Drones, How to see through fog (2013): Another Melbourne band - This is just one of the best summer tunes I know. I always think of being in a shabby apartment in the stinking heat with light curtains waving in the gentle breeze. This tune also has one of the best Lo-fi guitar solos I know. I've been playing guitar for a million years and I still can't harness whatever wildness Gareth Liddiard is channelling here - awesome stuff. Gareth is becoming a ͚figure͛ in the Australian arts scene now. He͛ ll get really big soon.

Australian Crawl, Beautiful people (1980): Aussie Crawl were super popular in the early 80s though I never really got into them. Aussie Crawl always seemed to be playing as I was spewing into the sick bag at the back of the coach heading to school camp. Now every time I hear them I have to lie down. This band is also famous for having virtually unintelligible lyrics courtesy of James Reyne.

Civil Civic, the Gift (2016) – this is one of three instrumentals I͛ve selected. The guys I played with in my first band in high school turned out to be some pretty amazing people. The drummer is just a remarkable character who is now a band manager (Boy & Bear, Airborne, Paper Kites etc) - one of the key figures in the music industry in Australia. At 12 years of age, the Keyboard player was the smartest guy I have ever met - still is. Now the head of a significant finance company. Our singer and bass payer, Ben, was the most creative person I have ever met - beautiful artist and writer, and a great muso. We would be taking a break, mid-set, and he would just pick up a guitar and do a solo show, singing passionately and beautifully - the chicks and the parents loved him. An absolute talent. He plays bass in this band which is comprised of two ex pat Melbournites; Aaron living in London and Ben in Barcelona, and ͞The Box͟ which is a drum machine and few other bits of kit with some flashing lights on the front. Ben is a super smart guy and the intricacy of the bass playing on this album reflects the massive size of his brain. I can't even comprehend some of the stuff he plays, let alone remember what the heck happens from one section to another throughout most of the songs. Anyway, big ups to Ben and Aaron - much luck.

Bat Piss, Weatherboard man (2017): I like this recent tune from another Melbourne band. The lyrics cover a lot of ground. The weatherboard thing refers to his background and ambitions etc. But houses are also more expensive in Australia than anywhere else on the planet (except Hong Kong - true) so any lyrics mentioning some housing thing stirs the ire of the people. Anyway, I just like the tune.

Grinderman, No pussy blues (2007): I bloody hate Nic Cave, but he͛s something of an Icon for emotionally challenged people. I like his side project with Grinderman more than any of his other stuff. This tune is kinda rockin, and has a sense of humour which is bloody rare for Nic. Nic has lived in England for most of his life now, but somehow we maintain him on the register of Australian artists. While we are on this issue, I'd like to apologise for Rupert Murdoch.

Slim Dusty - Pub with no beer (1957): Slim Dusty has more gold and platinum records than any other Australian Artist. He was the first Aussie recording artist to have an international #1 with this song. Slim Dusty was also the first artist broadcast from space when astronauts played his rendition of Waltzing Matilda from Space Shuttle Columbia as it passed over Australia on its maiden flight in 1981 (Wikipedia - could be wildly incorrect). Everyone knew Slim and this song (and Khe Sanh) when I was growing up. Part of Australia's musical history to be sure. The other good news is that if you hate the song, it's over pretty quickly.

Ball Park Music - Nihilist Party Anthem (2016): We, DJ Chestnuts, became acquainted with one another via the very awesome Maux, whom I met at the greatest conference I will ever attend in Corvallis, OR. Maux and have I kept in touch via facebook ever since and we've shared a few tunes. This is one I sent to Maux some time ago and I think she liked it. These guys are from Brisbane. They͛re all music Nerds so you get a mix of some decent groove (like this track) and some overintellectualised slow stuff that I immediately ignore.

Leader Cheetah - Bloodlines (2009): We have a national youth radio station called JJJ There's a running joke that it's run by 50 year olds, which I think is not that far from the truth. Still, some great shows and DJs. This station holds the Hottest 100, which is where people vote for the best songs of the year. They reckon it's the world's largest popular vote thing of its kind. They also have an 'Unearthed" thing which gives new bands a chance to play their stuff on radio, and I think this is where I heard this song first. These guys are from Adelaide, which along with Canberra (Australia's capital), is the butt of more Australian city jokes than any other. People who don͛t live in Adelaide hate the place. I kinda like it – many beautiful women riding bicycles and excellent Indian food is my main impression – it͛s like the Indian Amsterdam of Australia without the canals. Anyway, apparently Leader Cheetah have toured with Interpol, Dinosaur Jr. and Elbow. They've been pretty quiet lately and I've got no idea what they're up to. This song struck me with the very beautiful chorus and lyrics - totally channelling Neil Young here.

C.W.Stoneking - Get on the floor (2015): This is the music they should have played in The Heart of Darkness, and I imagine a big white wooden boat going up a slow river on a still hot day, heading towards a raunchy drugged-up pagan festival of some kind every time I hear it. CW was born in Katherine, which is absolutely in the middle of bloody nowhere (NT, Australia). I think he only has one set of clothes, which is an impeccable white suit and shoes with spats. He records in a very beautiful and old fashioned way as far as I understand, which is to basically place a microphone in a room and play! They move instruments back and forth to get the mix right. Fantastic stuff.

The Bamboos - Eel Oil (2006): The Bamboos are the elder statesmen of Aussie funk. They command a heap of respect in the industry and they get all the cool guest artists. The outfit is basically led by their guitarist, and when you see them live you get the impression that all the other (very capable) musos are in awe of this guy and playing to his beat. Very cool guy. I like some of their darker tunes, and you needed a couple of instrumentals, so here's another one.

The Bee Gees - You should be dancing (1979): Believe it or not these guys are somewhat Australian. We like to own anything that once visited our shores and has since done well. Russel Crowe (NZ), Crowded House (NZ), Mel Gibson (USA), AC/DC (England/Scotland) etc etc... I think these guys parents moved to Australia at the dawn of time for about 6 months and so now we own them. I hear that sometimes you like to dance, DJ Chestnuts, and dancing is Disco! I wish I could rock skin tight white flares, high heels and a shirt tucked in so tight you couldn't get a cigarette paper into the inherently low friction gap between nylon shirt and gaberdine trouser if you tried. Alas I am too fat.

Gold Class - life as a gun (2016): Good Melbourne fellas, essentially the embodiment of modern Joy Division. I dig this tune. They launched this album late last year and it sold out on vinyl in about a second. There's a couple of other goodies on the album too.

Fractures - Low Cast (2017): Melbourne band. Don͛t know much about these guys but I dig the layered harmonies and smooth feel of this tune. A newey and a mellow goodie.

AC/DC - Have a drink on me (1980): What would an Aussie playlist be without AC/DC, who have graciously accepted being considered Australian despite not having resided in Australia for many many years. This is from the Back in Black album, which was a tribute album to Bon Scott, their first singer who died choking on his own spew. That is so cool. It͛s the only AC/DC album that I really got my teeth into, and it was the soundtrack to a phase in my life where my buddies were getting their first cars, beer (we can drink at 18), some very dodgy parties, and experimentation. I listened to this a lot on cassette in my old mans car. I didn't know which song to pick from this album, but I support the inclusion of alcohol in all facets of life so this one jumped out at me. These guys are basically on their last legs these days, but luckily they have an almost direct replacement in the form of Airborne, who are much more famous in Europe than they are in Australia, and who happen to be managed by one of the guys I played in that band with: Greg, the drummer.

Rocket Science - Burn in Hell (2000): THIS is the kind of music I like to wake up to - fast, groovy, and reminding you that you are damned either way. Fucking inspirational. There's a fantastic line in an LCD Sound System song about 'your favourite music helps you sleep'. To me, that is the wrong way to use music, and it signals a deficiency in the human organism for which this is true. We should pity people like that. Another Melbourne band.

Peter Sculthorpe - String Quartet # 14 (1998): Peter Sculthorpe died recently, and was probably amongst the most famous residents of Canberra (our Nation's capital), along with Jackie Chan (no shit). I like this kind of whacko classical gear - it conjures up all kinds of landscape features, which helps me sleep. People who don't have music to sleep to should be pitied.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Julie's Place (2017): Greater Melbourne is split in two by the Yarra River and there's a saying that "you're either on one side of the river or the other". The southern suburbs are salubrious and expensive. Things are green and tidy and everything is organised by accountants and lawyers and school mums in black Range Rovers. North of the river is where there are still lots of live music venues, young creative people and nobody ever cleans their front yard. The film clip to this song ("A time to mow") is pretty funny and nicely encapsulates a typical home situation in Melbourne's North. The tune itself is one of the best implementations of excellent song craft over the "we have no musical skills and made this song up in 7 minutes" sound. I dig it (and so does Maux if I recall correctly).

Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Which way to go (2008): These guys are described as Punk. A good (Melbourne!) guitar band. They basically started from a jam at the record pressing plant where they worked, with vocals improvised over the top. Good riff. Good lyrics. Good clip - what's not to love.

A.B.Original - January 26 (2016): January 26 is "Australia Day" and we get a public holiday for it. Nobody actually knows specifically why Jan 26th is the holiday. I could probably google it, I guess. But nobody knows. It is being increasingly seen as a celebration of European invasion, and many people are even calling it Invasion day. This song says a lot about how indigenous people feel about Australia Day. These guys recently won an Australian Recording Industry Award (ARIA) for their album, "Reclaim Australia", which, just like it says on the box, is full of protest. This song caused a bit of drama in the press - it rated top 20 in the Hottest 100 but the Murdoch press had a field day and said something like ͞song denouncing Australian values wins award͟ - surprise surprise. I'd like to apologise for Rupert Mordoch again.

Science Fiction - Divinyls (1983): I never really got into this band, but I like this song's cool groove and flowy bass runs. Their singer, Chrissie Amphlet was an icon for many young Australian women. She had this really sexy look and she shoved it in your face. Great voice, too. Not sure how well known this song is outside of Australia.

Good boy - Poverty line (2016): another of my morning music favourites and another JJJ Unearthed find. These guys are from Brisbane, which is in Queensland in Australia͛s north east. Queensland is affectionately known as the 'deep north', in reference to the US Deep South, as it is chock full of mosquitos, terrible beer, and all of the very worst of our politicians (Tasmania, that shitty island just off the bottom of the mainland runs a bloody close second for political retards). Only real estate agents and corporate criminals wear closed-toe shoes in Queensland, which makes it easy to spot the remainder in their board shorts and thongs (which is the correct name for 'flip-flops').

Something for Kate - Captain (million miles an hour)(1997): Something for Kate are one of those bands that everyone in Australia and especially the music industry knows and greatly admires, but have never really broken it huge. These guys are another Melbourne band, and somehow I manage to see their singer, Paul Dempsey, all over the place around town - supermarket, laundromat, Chinatown. My brother had the same thing (”Did you see Paul Dempsey again today?””Yeah, WTF?”) and so we think that maybe he is stalking us. That's cool - being stalked is a like a compliment from an introvert. This song is an oldie. There's been many excellent Something for Kate newies, but I just love this one. I dig the straight ahead guitar and bass working together, and the lyrics send me to some dreamy place when I was very young.

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uniliving · 8 years ago

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Sydney - A Scholar’s Paradise

One of Australia’s largest cities, Sydney has a rich cultural history with a population of about 4.29 million. Famous for the mesmerizing Opera House, Darling Harbor, the city has a plethora of sites which attract travelers from across the globe. However, with a bevy of universities to choose from, Sydney can be a very good option to pursue your higher education. University Living has several properties across the city offering accommodation to students. Allow us to take you on a guided tour around some of the best universities in Sydney along with the accommodations that University Living provides.

University of Sydney

One of the most prestigious Universities of Sydney, it was Australia’s first university, founded in 1850. The main campus is often listed amongst the top 10 of the most beautiful universities. With about an average intake of 52,789 students (records for 2014), the university offers several undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

The university is recognized worldwide for its research courses. Alumni like Rose Byrne and Jacqueline Fernandez stand testimony to how the institution furthers an all-round development of its students. Students have easy access to tons of eating joints like Ralph’s Café, Miso Honi, The Everest Bar, The Coffee Cart, etc which covers all your cravings from Asian cuisine to caffeine.

University Living provides an array of accommodation options which are a short distance from the university. Darlington is a 3 minute walk away from the university while Urbanest Glebe is located just across the road. Other options like Iglu Centre, Link 2 and Stanmore are about 20 minutes (walking) away from the campus. Each of these is equipped with comfortable and airy rooms, wifi, kitchen and similar basic amenities.

University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)

With an average annual intake of 42,000 students, the university houses about 8 departments. However, it is their Engineering and Business courses that attract the highest number of applicants. The library offers several online and offline services to assist the students.

Several events are hosted throughout the year, from art exhibitions to band competitions. It also has an independent radio station- Radio 2SER, run by students. With over 100 clubs and societies, and several eating and retail outlets in and around the campus, the university has an active campus life. And did we mention that Hugh Jackman is a UTS alumnus? :)

Accommodations offered by University Living include Allawah, Marrickville, Stanmore which are approximately at a 20 minute walking distance from the university. Well endowed with plush upholstery and facilities like wifi and laundry, these places are bound to give you a relaxed and happy student experience in Sydney.

University of New South Wales (UNSW)

In 2016, it was ranked as the No. 1 preference for NSW school leavers, leaving behind the prestigious University of Sydney. UNSW has international exchange and research partnerships with around 200 universities, thereby giving its students an opportunity to broaden their horizons. These institutes include UCLA, New York University, Princeton University, etc.

One of Australia’s foremost universities, it offers courses in about 9 faculties. From Turkish to Mexican and Indian cuisine, the eating joints within the campus have it all covered. The UNSW Village has some splendid options for accommodation. Allow University Living to guide you through this grueling process of selecting a room.

Fun Fact: Actress Rebel Wilson is a product of UNSW

Macquarie University

Established in 1964, the university enrolls students in 5 departments for a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. With about 40,000 students under its wing, the university has managed to sustain its standards by providing a wholesome educational experience. It also has nine museums and galleries that showcase the best of scientific and artistic endeavours.

It is the only university in Australia to have an underground railway station on campus. The sports complex includes 2 swimming pools, a gymnasium and squash, netball and basket ball courts. The University co-owns the community radio station 2SER FM along with UTS. University Living offers accommodation at the Macquaire University Village. With cinemas and restaurants at a distance of 2 kms from the place, it is well connected to the city and the university.

Western Sydney University

Spread across 5 campuses, the university provides numerous undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral degrees. It has an annual intake of about 45,000 students, and is divided into 9 ‘schools’. The on campus facilities include libraries, tennis courts, cafes and bars where students can take a break from lectures and hone their skills or just relax.

The 5 campuses include Bankstown, Blacktown, Paramatta, Hawkesbury, Penrith and Campbell town. Each campus offers its own set of courses. The Ig Nobel Prize for Psychology in 2014 was awarded to Peter K Jonason, an alumnus of the Western Sydney University. University Living offers accommodation near each of the campuses.

Sydney’s universities are ranked among the best in the world and have high standards of education. With University Living taking care of your accommodation, make the most of an international education by choosing from the above mentioned universities.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”

-Nelson Mandela

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