Cosmetic Testing On Animals – Vote with your $

Vote with your $!

Companies take note when sales decrease and increase and I believe we can make a difference and stop the unnecessary suffering of our fury, feathered, hairy, hooved and scaled friends.

Have you ever considered how products are made and where they come from? So much ’stuff’ contains animal derived and cruelty derived ingredients that could be sourced from more ‘friendly’ methods. Should a bunny really be used to inform us how we will react to a sunscreen or eyeliner? Bunnies and human beings are slightly different from one another and not just because the bunny is cuter than me.

Do we need to test toiletries and beauty products on animals? NO! Do animals test their animal products on us. NO! There are alternatives to animal testing. 

choosecrueltyfree.org.au and animalsaustralia.org (the voice for animlas) are great resources to investigate the issues and what we as consumers can do about animal testing and cruelty. Become a compassionate consumer today and choose everyday products wisely.

What else can we do to be compassionate consumers?

Long Live the Short Story

Last week the Australian Book Industry Awards were announced and I was elated to read that a collection of short stories has won one of the major awards. It is not often that a book of short stories is nominated for a major book prize.  Nam Le’s book The Boat is an amazing collection of short stories.  While reading this book, you can’t help but feel involved in the multiple storylines.  These include the uneasy reunion between a young Vietnamese writer in America with his ex-soldier father, the anxiety of a child assassin in Colombia, an ageing New York artist desperate for a reconciliation with his daughter, a boy’s coming of age in a rough Victorian fishing town and the political and personal turmoil in Iran.  My favourite short story in this book was the title story –The Boat, which tells of  the escape of a group of exhausted refugees from the Vietcong in a wallowing boat.

There are many benefits to a short story the most obvious is that you can finish a whole story without any interruptions, no need put the book down and lose where you are up to in the story, they are great to read when you don’t know what to read next and a fantastic way to discover new authors.

Edgar Allan Poe, said that a short story should be read in one sitting, anywhere from a half hour to two hours.  And he should know, as a prolific writer of short stories. Poe’s stories are both riveting and frightening, his terrifying Tell Tale Heart  follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a “vulture eye”. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by cutting it into pieces and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately the narrator’s guilt manifests itself in the hallucination that the man’s heart is still beating under the floorboards. Makes you nervous to be in the house by yourself…doesn’t it?

If you are looking for something a little less sinister, but equally engrossing try Mick Jackson’s Ten Sorry Tales or revisit Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected.  For humour and satire you can’t go past Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince and Other Tales.  Shaun Tan’s Tales from Outer Suburbia is part short story part graphic novel.

Discover the joy of the short story.

Reboot

I have to admit that I don’t really keep up with the latest news. I arrived at work one day and I was asked about something that had happened a few days ago that had apparently been headline news. My blank face told it all and my work friend’s shocked reaction spoke volumes too. This is when I decided it might be a good idea to pop on to Google News once in a while.

Imagine my amusement when I recently discovered that the Queen (yes, of the Royal Family fame) has been presented with a gold-plated Wii. I can see it now – The Queen busting out the moves on Dance Dance Revolution or giving her arms a workout with Wii boxing.

So, we don’t have gold-plated Wiis, but we do have Reboot gaming sessions at Nerang Branch Library and Southport Branch Library every month. We set up our Wiis and let you loose on them with tournaments and competitions, like bowling and Mario Kart.

The details for the next ones coming up are:

Nerang Branch Library
Fridays 4pm – 5pm
17th and 31st July
14th and 28th August

Southport Branch Library
Wednesdays 3:30pm – 4:30pm
29 July
26 August

We hope to see you there!

P!NK CONCERT!! So what!?!

I’ve been talking about the concert for months.  It really had gotten to the point that my workmates were waiting for it to be over so that I would stop talking about it….  P!NK was in town and I got to see her live!!!

I had been to P!NK’s last concert in Brisbane and was excited to be able to her FUNHOUSE tour concert.  I’m not really a concert goer – I would rather buy or borrow cds from the library then go to a concert that I can’t really afford!  But P!nk is different! 

This is probably where I should put a disclaimer in…. If you don’t want to know how brilliant the concert was or the fantastic songs that she sang – don’t read any further – skip down this entry and look at the one below.  On the other hand – if you want to know – keep reading!!!

First of all – while I don’t particularly like FAKER, they opened the show with their hit song: “This Heart Attack“.  Bounding across the stage with energy, pumping up the already excited crowd – they made a good impression on me – so much so that I am on the lookout for their cd.   Their set provided the stadium with plenty of music to dance to, and while the stage was being reworked for Pink’s entry – a DJ provided the right atmosphere to keep the energy high.  I was really impressed to hear so great 80’s sounds mixed in pnau and more!!

And then it was time for P!NK!!

Seriously, this girl can sing! 

Second disclaimer – I’m going to talk about some of the songs now and the great theatrics of the night - so if you don’t want to know…. skip to the next blog entry….

Starting with some AC/DC the crowd jumped to their feet as Pink rose from her hiding spot and was swung from the top of the catwalk to the mainstage. Yep she was on a trapeze! 

Playing music from AC/DC, to the Divinyls, Eurythmics, and Gnarls Barkley, Pink got the stadium up and dancing with a set that included old hits like “Family Portrait” and “Stupid Girls” all the way through to her new Funhouse album.

Would I go see Pink again?  YEP!!  Even though my seats were practically in a different postcode to the stage – I would definitely see her live again.

Who would you see live in concert?  Are they coming on tour soon??

Alice In Wonderland – I hope so!

I like to pretend that I’m organised and on the ball, so I’m getting in early. Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland is due for release in March, 2010. The characters look AMAZING! I don’t know too many details about the film but have a look at the photos released so far at IMDb. AMAZING!

And… Alice is played by an Australian actor!
Mia Wasikowska who has had parts in All Saints, Suburban Mayhem and In Treatment. I don’t recognise her but maybe you will when you look at the movie slide-show.

I’m excited!
(but I’m even more excited about Where the Wild Things Are)

Adventure story swap

What is a story swap? Basically, it’s where people get together and each tells a story, either fact or fiction. We thought we’d give story swapping a try right here on blurb it. Feel free to add your own story, in the comments or via your own post.

*****

My wife and I travelled extensively in outback Australia in the 1970s. Back in those days you could travel outback roads and not see another vehicle or people for days. The roads were rough and in many spots unsealed, a real challenge at times. We owned a station wagon and had it setup for camping and we could sleep in the back if needed. This is a story of what happened on one of our trips.

It had been a long day of travelling for us and the sundown was fast approaching. We knew that we could not make the next town by dark. Travelling at night could be dangerous due to chances of hitting wildlife or cattle and this could have serious consequences for animals, people and vehicles. We decided to stop and camp for the night. Sunset found us in a quiet spot off the highway, campfire lit and tea cooking. Tired and weary from a long day of driving, we had an early night. I was awoken later by the sounds of a car driving by and the occupants yelling and yahooing. They sounded drunk and while I was little concerned, I thought “we are well hidden from the road and it is very dark, so no one will know we are herein” and fell asleep again.

The next time I was woken up, things were a lot scarier. I could hear someone or something crashing around in the bush very close to our car. My first thought was of the car full of people I had heard earlier in the night. Had they found us? What did they want? Why were they crashing through the bush around our car? Whoever was out there was very close. I was very worried, this was not a good place to be surrounded by drunk louts. I woke my wife and told her to be very quiet. The crashing and noise was very loud and close, it sounded like there was a few people out there now.

Luckily the night was cold and so the car windows were wound up and doors locked from inside. We were safe inside the car. I decided to climb over to the drivers seat, start the car and drive like crazy out of there. First, I grabbed our torch and the tyre iron (I was now very worried). I shone the torch out the window and my heart nearly stopped. In the torch light, pressed up against the window was a face peering in at us. My wife SCREAMED, I just about hit the roof of the car, I jumped so high. My wife screamed again and the face in the window went, MOOOOOOOOO.

The face staring back at me was a cow’s face. My wife and I hopped out of the car and looked around. A herd of cows were walking right through our campsite and one curious cow had decide to check out what was in the car. After the cows had moved on and we had calmed down, we could see the funny side but for a very short time I had been terrified. We travelled on the next day without any further incidents. When I think about this story I can see that cow’s face in the torch light as if it just happened yesterday.

This my story. Let’s  hear back from all  you out there. Post your  funny, sad, happy or adventure stories and have some fun.

Looking for mystery this winter?

I found an interesting book yesterday called Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman.  I haven’t had the chance to read it yet but the premise is intriguing.  Written in dual formats, the actual book portrays only half of the mystery and the clues to solve it.  The rest can be found online in the form of video diaries made by Sarah, one of the story’s main characters. 

The book follows Ryan and the records he keeps in his diary while the videos are made by Sarah as they try to solve the mystery at the heart of the book.  I’ve seen some positive reviews online and am keen to have read and watch the videos.  There are a few websites dedicated to the mystery that I’ll need to check out too.  The second book in the series is set to be published in October 2009 for those not satisfied with the book’s apparently cliffhanger ending.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for good reads this Winter?

Graphic classics

When I first waded my way through the densely described world created by JRR Tolkien, I thought “wow” and then I thought “can this guy just not get on and tell the story – I don’t care about this elven prince’s lineage?”
But they are great stories, which is why I loved the Lord of the Rings movies and why I really enjoyed reading The Hobbit graphic novel - it’s still Tolkien’s words, but they’ve been stripped back to the core of the tale, which is a great adventure/quest, and it speeds along.

I’ve seen in the library the graphic novel of The great Gatsby (by Nicki Greenberg) but I’ve been a bit too weirded out by the fact that the characters are all depicted as some sort of freaky aquatic lifeforms (is that a puffer fish driving a car?) to actually read it. Has anyone else read it?

I have to admit, I like the idea of turning classic novels into graphic novels. I’m going to go and place a hold on the graphic novel of Frankenstein because it’s one of those books that I’ve always meant to read and I know what happens in it, but I’ve just never got around to reading it.

Friday five: Five reasons to love Winter

When anyone asks, I say I’m a Winter person. In Summer as the humidity soars, I complain about the heat and find my only comfort comes from ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream. That is until Winter rolls around and I am very quickly reminded how cold it gets (and we live on the Gold Coast!)… and I seem to forget this every year.

As the mornings get colder and the days shorter, we have to remember to be positive! I’m going to share with you five reasons why I love Winter. Please do the same!

• Comfort food Casseroles, pies, curries, cakes, puddings… I should stop now. It’s only 11am and I’m feeling incredibly hungry
• Winter movie season The big Summer movies relased in the US become our movies for the July school holidays. Less than 1 month until Half-Blood Prince!
• Knitting It would make more sense for me to do this in Summer so I have things to wear in Winter, but it just doesn’t feel right. It’s cheap, it’s easy and if you don’t know how, it’s easy to teach yourself the basics using books from the library.
• Hot chocolate Yes this could go under the ‘comfort food’ category, but it’s really important for it to have its own mention! Marshmallows are compulsory.

And lastly but most importantly…

• School holiday activities The July school holidays are always such a busy and exciting place for Gold Coast libraries. To make sure you don’t miss out on our creepy and crawly activities, check out our calendar of events online to see what’s on. Bookings are a must of you want to secure your place, and activities are filling up quickly!

Tomorrow when the war began to (finally) hit the big screen!

Australian screen writer Stuart Beattie (who co wrote Australia) will be making his directorial debut with a film version of the John Marsden classic, Tomorrow when the war began.

The plan is for the filmmakers to turn the first three novels into movies, with the option of spinning the next four off into a tv series if the films are successful.

Filming starts in September. I’ve been waiting since the mid 90s, when I first read Tomorrow, for this announcement! I’ll certainly be queuing up for my ticket!

More info