To iPhone or to iObject?

I recently discovered a chinese contractor, Foxconn, which is responsible for assembling the iPhone has had eight of its staff make attempts (many of which have been successful) to end their lives over the past year.

According to Fairfax Ltd, "[t]he most notable Foxconn suicide came last July when 25-year-old Sun Danyong jumped from his high-rise apartment after being interrogated over a missing iPhone prototype."

IDG News service reports that Foxconn has asked "Chinese police to investigate a case in which an employee reportedly committed suicide after being pressured over the loss of an iPhone prototype."

The report suggests the Chinese former employee was "roughed up" by a Foxconn security official, and that the incident reveals "management shortcomings" at the company.

Additionally, Apple has admitted to using child labour, with Fairfax reporting "at least eleven 15 year-old children were discovered to be working last year in three factories that supply Apple."

Where I feel torn is that I own a Macbook Pro, an iPod and an iPhone, so am I supporting this practice and thus endorsing unsafe working conditions?

Am I morally or ethically obligated to take a stand and refuse to continue supporting Apple until they demand improved working conditions from their contractors? And would my stand even make a difference to Apple? Unfortunately, I think not.

I'll continue typing on my Apple laptop and calling on my Apple iPhone, but at least I'll be aware of the ethical problems associated with the company and perhaps, by blogging, so might others.

Photo courtesy of: http://dotnetslackers.com/Community/blogs/kaushalparik/apple%20iphone.jpg

Dating and relationships in 2010.

I'll admit I've been watching my fair share of every girl's bible: Sex and the City, recently but I'm still more than confused on dating and relationships.

In this day and age, how do men (or boys, for those guys that haven't really 'grown up' yet) want us to behave? Are girls still expected to take on the traditional roles in a relationship; do the washing, shopping, cooking etc while the guy pays the bill?

I'd like to think we've moved on from this, but what about on a date. Does he pay? Is he still obligated to make sure his date gets home okay? Or is that pandering to an old ideal of how men should behave, which is now completely outdated and irrelevant?

I know that I consider respect from a guy to include looking after me - being courteous, considerate, and hopefully a little bit generous- but that's not to say financially I expect him to foot the bill for our relationship... I think we've moved on from way-back-when.

What I'm grappling with most of all is whether men want us to be 'forward' and tell them we like them, 'make the first move,' if you like, or to hold back and give the guy the chance to be proactive? And what if he doesn't make that move? Then what?

My good friend Alex Ristway, who is a self-proclaimed dating expert, believes it's a matter of assessing each individual situation.

"If you are more uncertain than sure, it's probably best to hang back until you know where you stand," she says.

I tend to over-analyse everything. From the composition of each and every text-message I send, to my shampoo choice in the supermarket. In taking on advice such as that of Alex, I might never make a move, because I might never be sure of where I stand - and what if a friendship is ruined by the mis-reading of the situation?

Perhaps I ought to continue watching Sex and the City until I'm sure where I stand ... or I could take a chance and see where it takes me... or maybe I could just wait 'til the guy makes the first move.

Beautiful Bali

I recently spent ten days travelling around Bali with my beautiful family. It was an amazing experience and I thoroughly enjoyed being exposed to the glorious culture that is Bali. The people I encountered were genuinely pleasant, sweet-natured, good-humoured and although it might be a generalisation, they all seemed very content.

I aspire to reach that inner peace and tranquility - I find that burning incense always helps, oh and the massages (which are the equivalent of AUD $6) certainly don't hurt.

I adored creating wood paintings, visiting a traditional Balinese village up in the hills of Ubud, and visiting gorgeous spice farms near Kintomani Volcano. I was enthralled by the Balinese dancing and enchanted by the xylophone style music played for us each morning by a lovely local blind man in our resort.

An additional bonus of the trip was the incredible shopping opportunities. I bought the most ridiculous amount of "stuff" (read 11kgs of extra weight in my suitcase upon return to Australia): custom-made leather boots, six sun dresses, two pairs of leather thongs, three pairs of sunglasses, a fedora hat, 13 DVDs, batik sarongs, facials, six Bintang singlets for friends, mani and pedicures, as well as silver jewellery. I literally took only $300 and struggled to spend it all. I was doing my duty by supporting the local Balinese retail industry after all.

My favourite beaches, if you get the chance to travel to Bali, are Geger Beach and Pedang Pedang - think turquoise water, white white sand, sun beds, beach umbrellas and you're about halfway to imagining the beauty of these places.

Here is the link to the YouTube video I created from our holiday:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkr6RcoFyc

I'd thoroughly recommend a holiday to Bali - I know there are reasonably priced airfares to the beautiful Indonesian island at the moment... why not make the most of them?!

Image courtesy of: http://www.fortunatur.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Beach-Club-at-Geger-Beach.jpg

Style.

Style is innate and, in my opinion, you either have it or you don't. It is not only about the ability to put an outfit together, it also includes the way you carry yourself and your public conduct. I strive to be stylish, but I don't believe that I am. I don't think I was born with that rare ability to put lots of textures and colours and various styles together all in the one outfit, creating the most sleek and sophisticated ensemble.

There is an incredible blog that I enjoy perusing regularly, which is called The Sartorialist. Essentially, fashion photographer Scott Schuman takes photos of stylishly and uniquely dressed regular individuals and models alike as they go about their daily lives. I look at the individuals in the photos with wistful longing. Of course it doesn't help that the photos all include designer labels that would take a small car to be able to afford.

Here are some of my favourite photos from The Sartorialist:






In my mind, the most stylish people in our lives in 2010 include Cate Blanchett, Anna Wintour, Michelle and Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy. Do you agree, or have I missed a quintessentially stylish individual that MUST be mentioned?

A more than welcome uh-huh moment!

Yesterday I experienced one of those uh-huh moments where it was affirmed that the career I thought I wanted is definitely the right one for me. I've recently been unsure of whether I do want to do journalism as a profession. "Wouldn't you know that by your third year?" I hear you ask. And possibly I should have known whether my university course was right for me, considering it is my final year. However, it's very hard to work that out when you aren't actually in the field using the skills you've learned in class.

That's why yesterday was such a breakthrough for me. As a JRN321 Broadcast assignment, we have to select a story relating to the local area and cover it as a TV news story. I am currently covering the closure of St. Vincent's Private Hospital in Bathurst, which was only announced on Wednesday; a shock to its staff as well as politicians, government agencies and the local community.

I arranged and conducted interviews yesterday with the State Member for Bathurst, Gerard Martin as well as a nurse who will lose her job as a consequence of the closure. I have also organised to talk to the representative for the Senior Citizens of Bathurst, who will comment on the conversion of the hospital into an aged care facility, and what this will mean for Bathurst. Though there are now whispers that the futures of other aged care facilities in the Bathurst area may be at risk- it will be interesting to see her reaction to this news. I got the most incredible buzz out of investigating this news as it was happening and I experienced this feeling also while on work experience with National Nine News.

More than anything, I have enjoyed finding out news before it has broken, interviewing important figures in the community and having the ability to ask the questions we need answered.

I have had my career aspirations confirmed. I definitely don't want anything more than to become a television reporter and, in my final year of my journalism degree, I couldn't have hoped for a better affirmation!

March sans alcohol.

I'm attempting something that I haven't done since last year, but that I think is much needed after the last few months of partying. I missed the 'Feb Fast' train and didn't go alcohol free last month, but I am going to skip drinking for this month. As i'll be going away on a 10 day holiday to Bali in April, I certainly couldn't pass up the opportunity to sip pina coladas on the beach then, so March it is.

Given my posts in the recent past have alluded to my rapidly approaching grandma-hood - in that I have more than predictable Sundays, I feel way too old to go to unibar, and I don't even like Valentine's Day - this next statement is likely to reinforce that I am getting old before my time, but I'll say it anyway.

I cannot handle alcohol like I used to, and i'm only 20.

If I drink (and, granted, I'll have at least four drinks over a night out), I feel sick the whole next day. Doing exercise seems impossible and with all the calories that have been consumed with all those drinks, it adds up fast. So I figure skipping alcohol in March won't just be good for my liver, but it can only be friendly to my body to give it a rest and an acohol detox for one month of the year, particularly given I am going to be in a bikini for 10 days and I want to be able to exercise as much as possible before I board that plane for Denpasar.



Wish me luck... no sav blanc this month!

Sunday night... as predictable as meat and three veg.

I'm just going to put it out there - Sunday night is the most predictable time of the week. I don't even have to think from 5pm onwards on a Sunday. I know it's going to be a roast dinner at dining hall, I know I'm going to go back to my room, have a cup of tea and get myself ready for Uni, I know I'm going to watch 60 Minutes and I'll probably have an early night. I am boring personified.

In saying that, however, there is something comforting in knowing that, if nothing else, Sunday night is the one time in the week that just happens easily. Sure I'm open to being spontaneous, but it's nice to have order. Okay maybe I'm a bit of a control freak.

Is Sunday night as predictable for others as it is for me? I'd guess many people enjoy Sunday sessions at their local watering holes, or go out for a meal with friends, watch a film, or even have a regular family BBQ. For me, that may come once I have a full-time job and need to make the most of any opportunity I have to catch up with friends. For the time being, I'm more than happy with my predictable and boring Sunday evenings!

Please Uni... Hurry up so my life can start again?

The past month has been spent trying, perhaps in vain, to productively pass my days when I'm not on duty in the Galloway boarding house. You see, without Uni and living in a relatively small country city, there are limits to the array of activities available at little to no cost.

I've been frequenting my gym (generally daily), and that has taken up a good hour each day, but the Scots resos have managed to come up with many other relatively enjoyable activities to pass the time. We have had Noodle Box at the top of Mt Panorama, overlooking the gorgeous view of Bathurst and beyond. Tuesday night trivia at the Kings has been a good source of entertainment, as has the Ox's trivia on a Wednesday night. We've taken our new resos late night swimming in our pool with a bottle of Chardonnay we won at trivia, and we have had plenty of movie nights and random drinking nights playing games like Never Ever, Roxanne, Kings etc. Emiley (a friend and also a resident) and I have been on a roadtrip to Blayney, where we drank Coke's in the local pub, and sang our hearts out to and from Blayney.

It has been an interesting experience welcoming in new residents to our school. Many have just finished school, and have only just begun university, and consequently we have felt somewhat responsible for ensuring they come home safely after their O-Week parties, and are enjoying themselves sufficiently. Last night we went to Dag Night, having sourced our outfits from Bathurst's Op-Shops. This in itself was a thoroughly enjoyable experience - sampling the many 1980s dress suits and the beautiful floral floor length dresses available. We pre-drank at my friends' house - Toph and Tyson ensured we had lots of fun in providing us with drinking Jenga. It was really nice to pre-drink at a house down-town rather than being either on-campus or at the school. That freedom was certainly appreciated and was very refreshing. All the friends we were with then danced together through the night and even took our new male resident, Dan, under their wing, teaching him how to dance and attempting to get him as drunk as they possibly could with Never Ever.

We loved dancing to Jelly Bean Jam, who played both new and old music and played instruments as well as singing fabulously. It was a bizarre experience to be with all those new faces of the freshers because they just seemed so much younger than us. Which, to be fair, is an accurate observation as they are at least three years younger than us. It was scary to think that some of the first year students are actually my brother's age. Emily and I vowed we wouldn't frequent unibar much any more - we just feel too old - and might choose instead to make the Wednesday night Pool Club our regular social activity.

Here are some of the photos from our past few weeks waiting for uni to commence.

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow is my least favourite day of the year. And it's because I am b-i-t-t-e-r. And I don't pretend that I wouldn't absolutely love Valentine's Day if I had a boyfriend, because I certainly would. But I don't.

It's not that I would want a tacky giant teddy-bear, or a dozen red roses, because I really don't need a lot of money spent on me... I would rather a picnic packed up by my BF, with a bottle of wine and an antipasto platter he'd put together, and we'd spend the day lying on a picnic rug overlooking the harbour somewhere. Or otherwise, I'd love to be able to cook him dinner - something like spaghetti marinara, and we'd spend the evening together listening to good music, drinking nice wine, and enjoying each other's company.

I hate seeing extraordinarily awful Valentines Day cards around this time. I was looking at a few the other day in the newsagents and I almost gagged when I read one that had a picture of a guy on the front of it, and in side it said "Happy Valentines Day, your gift is my stimulus package." Nice, huh. Oh, and who can forget the cheesy "Roses are red, violets are blue" specialties. Yuk.

My problem at present is that I'm kind of disillusioned when it comes to guys that I would actually want to go out with. Sure there are lots of guys whose company I enjoy, but very rarely do I find a boy that really gets me. If I'm honest, I can be a bit self-conscious around guys and feel inadequate, so maybe I should work on feeling more confident about myself... still, I'm sure everyone has their own hang-ups, and when you meet the right person, you don't feel inhibited and self-conscious, you're comfortable to be yourself.

Well, because I don't have my very own boyfriend to cook for or to go picnicking with, I'll just have to settle for watching Definitely, Maybe (my favourite romantic comedy) and watching the dreamy Ryan Reynolds until my very own Prince Charming comes along.

Resemblances

Main Entry: re·sem·blance
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈzem-blən(t)s\
Function: noun
Date: 14th century
1 a : the quality or state of resembling; especially : correspondence in appearance or superficial qualities b : a point of likeness : similarity

The concept of resemblance has been at the forefront of my mind this week. There has been a "doppelganger" week on Facebook, whereby people have made their display pictures a photo of somebody they supposedly resemble. I've been told, more than once, that Nigella Lawson and I have similarities. Sure, we love to cook, and we have brown curly hair, and we both have hour-glass figures, so I guess we might resemble each other in some ways.

I'm currently reading a book titled Social Intelligenec: The New Science of Human Relationships by Dan Goleman. It has taken me quite a long time to get through it - with a multitude of complex ideas - but today I came across something that I found truly charming.

... something rather remarkable tends to happen with couples who live together for decades, finding happiness with each other. Their continual rapport even seems to leave its mark on their faces, which come to resemble each other, apparently a result of the sculpting of facial muscles as they evoke the same emotions over the years. Since each emotion tenses and relaxes a specific set of facial muscles, as partners smile or frown in unison they strengthen the parallel set of muscles. This gradually molds similar ridges, wrinkles and lines, making their faces appear more alike.

Goleman goes on to describe a study where wedding photos and photos from couples 25 years later were compared. Not only had their expressions and faces become more similar, but the more alike their faces had become, the more happy they were in their relationships.

This phenomenon results in partners being able to sculpt desirable patterns in each other. It is known as the "Michelangelo phenomenon".

In a similar way, many dog owners choose a dog that resembles themselves. One would imagine it would occur subconsciously; in my case, my dog has curly hair as do I. A new scientific study states that this is the case, at least this is the case with purebred canines, according to research from the University of California by Nicholas Christenfeld and Michael Roy.

Forty-five dogs and their owners were separately photographed and judges were shown pictures of an owner, that owner's dog, and one other dog, with the task of picking out the true match. The proof of resemblance was that a majority of the purebred dogs and their owners could be identified by the 28 judges called upon to examine the photographs, with the results showing 16 matches out of the 25 purebreds. There was no evidence of resemblance between the mixed breed dogs and their owners.

Given that dogs are a man's best friend, and you often seek out a friend that has similar traits or is like yourself, it is no wonder you might choose to select a dog that looks like you do.

Many times comments have been made about how my friends and I are so similar. We get each other's jokes and seem to speak another language; presumably because no one else can understand us (or at least they don't find our jokes funny). We also sometimes dress exactly the same - or develop the same obsessions - and it's all done without necessarily communicating with each other. We will get together and discover we've become mirror-images of each other, either through our outfits or our passions/ interests. Sometimes it's almost creepy how quickly your own personal identity is matched by someone else's.

In any case, i've enjoyed pondering the concept throughout this past week... look around you and see whether you associate with individuals that share great similarities with you? Has it always been this way?