Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

I really can't get into that Xmassssssy mood that I usually tend to find weeks and weeks before it actually starts. But this year I can't find it. I've got a tree. With lots of red and black and gold and green in it. It's not real cause I manage to kill everyting that is alive within my flat - kudos to Rich who's still alive - so it was decided last year that we keep a tree that can be stuffed under our bed year after year.

Maybe I have not been able to find the festive spirit due to the really stressful time I've been through with Uni. Don't get me wrong, this semester has been the best one ever and I cannot remember last time I enjoyed going to school or Uni as much as I've done. Working our butts off with all different kinds of practical ways to learn how to be journalist have been brilliant. I have not only managed to get lots of new contacts, explored areas I have never been interested in before and gained new knowledge when it comes to technical devices that earlier in my life have scared me more than anything else. All I have been able to do previous to this is play video games and write emails, now I feel as a pretty decent editor who can actually puzzle together quite a nice little package in not very much time at all.

Today when I got back from Uni I realised that it's actually only two - TWO - more Uni days before I go back to see my dear family in the snowy country Sweden. Should be absolutely great. And, I think snow might do the trick. Snow, xmas carols and glögg (kind of similar to mulled wine but not quite, get some from IKEA now and enjoy with gingerbreads).

The best things about Christmas this year are that I will be celebrating it in Sweden with my family and friends and my Rich is coming over with me to see how a Swedish (real) Christmas is celebrated (don't worry, you won't miss out on it, will add photos here as soon as possible). All the lovely food, the stupid traditions (such as watch Donald Duck and the other epic Disney classics at 3pm on the right Christmas day which is the 24th!), listening to awful Christmas carols that everyone seems to love during a few days every year and eating my mums gorgeous rice porridge. I know, it sounds weird but it's looovely! Yummy. Worth waiting a year at a time for!

Anyway, I'm gonna try to finish off my critical reviews before the holidays so that I can fully enjoy spending time with my loved ones in a couple of days time:)

Oh and by the way, I want a mince pie. Anyone? Please?

HCJ Year 2 - Synopsis Notes for Test

Alright, quite a lot of information in one lecture, but I've done my best to simplify my notes... Here goes;

James Joyce - Ulysses

James Joyce is described as an icon for Modernism (1880-World War 1). In Ulysses, Joyce describes the fragmentation of the society through his main characters. He ventures in to people's minds and tries to describe how human beings have diverse ways of looking and experience things, and therefore can experience the same event or thought with different views on it at the same time, which of course helps making this book even more confusing.

Joyce's style of writing, stream of consciousness, is a very confusing (most of this book I found extremely confusing) way of writing, and therefore it seems as if nothing really makes sense in the book, and sometimes, I'm not even sure the characters themselves know what they do, feel or think. Joyce breaks free from previous, conservative trends and ideas within literature and instead of relying on the previous narrative styles that consists of a beginning, middle and an end, his writing jumps all over the place - just like yours and my mind works in our daily life. With this writing style, the narrative ends up very decentred, and there is no single story, but many stories that overlap one another and never really reveals anything - because nothing seems to be definite.

Many of the feelings and experiences that are being described have close connection with Freud, such as when Molly Bloom considers her previous love affairs as 'experiences', and not as something that stays close to her heart. This work includes things that could be seen (and was seen) as pornographic and perverse, and was therefore banned. This also show indications on the Freudian way of considering things in life, as in 'humans have sex and therefore we should write about it', just as we write about everything else that happens around us.

Sigmund Freud

Freud was a sexist! He said that humans are motivated by sex, and it's a basic need, a basic instinct. He explained that this helped understanding how people thought, basically: no sex = no motivation. Freud described how people are not what they think they are because the society suppresses the individual and therefore it damages the individual - since sex, and orgasms, are basic needs (in Freudian terms) just like hunger and anger, a human being cannot survive without it - and as the society chooses to suppress these feelings, these needs the human becomes depressed and mentally ill.

But not everything seems to be about sex when talking about Freud. One of his most famous works is 'On the analysis of dreams', and this was the other major area in which he was interested in. Freud describes the human mind as consisting of a conscious and a subconscious part where the two opposites always exist in a constant conflict which leads to unhappiness. To find out how the conflict between the two can be solved, Freud concentrated on dreams as he described being the royal way to the subconscious. Because, through discussing dreams Freud said that you can find out what feelings, emotions, thoughts and needs are being suppressed in your body/mind and what can be done to change this.

Mainly Freud treated people with paranoia, different types of phobias, hysteria, fears and similar 'illnesses'. He is also famous for the concept penis envy where he describes all women being jealous on men and wanting to become one... [Silly thoughts... Lol!] But as we can see, a very common subject keeps repeating itself when it comes to Freud - sex.

George Orwell - 1984

In this book George Orwell describes how the government tries to control their citizens through language. For example, if they remove the word rebellion from the vocabulary, it cannot be used and therefore the action in itself will stop existing, and in this way the government can control their population to think and act in the ways they want.

1984 tells the story of how Winston Smith makes a living on censoring newspapers and erasing the past that the government does not want anyone to remember, this to be able to control the present and therefore also the future. "He who controls the present, controls the past - he who controls the past, controls the future" - so he is assigned to destroy the past to help the government control the future... Very shocking and something that is very scary and could probably happen in countries where no communication with other countries is allowed.

They produce a new dictionary with words that should be allowed and used, newspeak, and words change meaning such as 'love is hate' and 'peace is war', and the expression 'thought crime is death' occurs, which means that anyone thinking their own thoughts and trying to explore 'words' and 'actions' that are not within the dictionary will meet death in one way or another by simply just disappearing all of a sudden...

This can in some ways be linked with today's society where The Ministry of Defence (earlier called the Ministry of War) does not really deal in defence - more likely in the opposite...

John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath

This is a very extreme and controversial piece of work which is considered being a journalistic piece; some consider it propaganda, others as a journalistic campaign. John Steinbeck was the first, and only journalist so far, to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.

Steinbeck based this book , The Grapes of Wrath, on a number of articles that he wrote as he lived and travelled with citizens of the United States that struggled through the great depression and left their homes, to find new opportunities and a new future in the promised land; California. The unfair and inhuman conditions that Steinbeck describes in the book was commented as exaggerated by some of the readers, but research shows that conditions were actually even worse during this time than he did describe. All the characters in the book are fictitious but do represent the majority of the people living and working under this period in time, and I think this is what makes the piece so vivid and strong.

The key narrative in this book focuses on migration (and the resistance to) - and this will always be a subject to discuss no matter when, even most likely in 200 years, because every generation, and every culture has its own migration story. From what I have read and heard about this book, and its author, it seems as if the main message that it wants to put through to fellow human beings living now is to cooperate and help each other. To work together and through these ways reach the best society possible - Socialism.

The book is written in a very descriptive way and you can feel yourself being there with the characters, suffering with them and sharing their daily hardness to battle the terrible conditions and tests they face throughout their journey. The dialogues are very colourful and intense (like our tutor Brian Thornton said; "fantastic!") and nails the characters in a way that I have not really seen before. Also, the book gives a voice to the voiceless, the powerless and the ones ignored and through this it can definitely be considered a journalistic (master) piece. This was of writing, visual writing, is closely connected with photojournalism that started to grow stronger during this period.

Emile Zola - Germinal

Just as Steinbeck's works, this is a very descriptive book that paints images in front of you, that adds colour, landscapes and portraits as you read along without seeing a single painting or photo throughout the entire book. Emile Zola is considered one of the first big photojournalists, and also the greatest Realism writer ever. He wrote books about prostitution in Paris, railway industries and so on, but his most regarded work is Germinal that describes a mining community where the citizens decides to strike only to find out that this move does not go the way they expected it.

Germinal is a brilliant book that makes me shiver every time I think about the well described parts of the shop keeper in the town being castrated by the angry citizens and the attempt to survive the flooded mine as it collapses and the only way out is up a rusty old metal ladder that cuts through their hands... This book could be seen as edging towards Modernism (body centred, pain etcetera) but is definitely classified as Realistic. Moreover, this work features women strongly as the sex that keeps the society up on its feet for as long as possible even though the conditions are absolutely inhuman.

I hope someone will find this useful!

WINOLive

Another couple of weeks with WINOL live have passed since I last updated this blog. Two weeks ago we had quite a good bulletin up and running almost at 5pm (a little bit delayed due to technical issues) but we felt good to be able to produce an even better bulletin than the previous ones. This week the headline news included a car crash taking place in Winchester and the various Children in Need events that took place on campus.



I went out to get some photos from the annual Christmas lights that were put up in town and also to interview BID's manager Keith Wilson to find out more about the annual event. In the end, my package got scrapped - even though I absolutely loved it - and I ended up helping Maxine Erasmus putting together her package on the dreadful conditions students at Erasmus Park lives under in their student halls.



Interesting right? Well better check out bulletins out every week to be sure not to miss anything!!

Everything from the first sparks of news ideas to producing the final product seemed to go so much smoother and easier this week than the three weeks before, which is a good sign - hopefully! Also, teamwork and communication appeared to exist in a much larger scale then earlier, which I think helped everyone in all positions to not feel as stressed and concerned about getting everything ready in time.

Unfortunately I was sick last week and could not participate in the bulletin being put together then, but from what I have seen and heard it did not go as smoothly as the previous week. The wonderful world of technical equipment was not on our side and even though packages were produced on time, things fell through due to dodgy equipment and such.

Hopefully this week will be a super hit, since it is our last real bulletin before our Christmas break! So do not forget to tune in on Wednesday at 5pm when our bulletin goes live :)

Guest lecturer - Steve Power, Wave 105

Instead of one of the usual Thursday lectures, we were accompanied by Steve Power from Wave 105. It's always interesting to hear from someone who has got experience in the profession I'm aiming to get into myself, this does not only giving me more knowledge about the profession itself, but also inspires me to actually get there - eventually.

Steve has been working for yearrrrrrrs within the media, even before I was born, and he happily chatted away about his breakfast show, collegues, scripts, audiences, balance between private life and work and so on. It all sounds very interesting, and the more I hear and learn about radio and what is actually going on in the studio and its surroundings, the more I appreciate my choice in doing a journalism degree. I will now start pester all the studios nearby Andover and make sure that I can get as much experience out of it as possible while still at university. Hopefully, this will be additional experience for me that I can scribble down on a future CV when I go out to tackle life after uni in a battle for a 'real job'.

Even though lectures in themselves are important and most of the time interesting, it's always a nice change to hear someone else who doesn't usually exist within your university world. The same thing applies to the guest editors we've got in on Wednesdays when we work our butts off to get our live edition of WINOL ready for 5pm. This way you do not only learn more, but also want to prove what you can do to a completely new face.

More guest lecturers/editors to the universities!!

Caught in the middle

Half drifting of to sleep, as usual, on the bus to Winchester this morning, a huge amount of police cars and ambulances woke me up - and finally me and the bus were caught in the middle of a massive traffic accident. In front of us emergency services were piling up to take care of a female who was caught in a car after a crash. A couple of years ago, when I wasn't introduced to the journalistic way of thinking in life, I would probably have stayed in my seat, curiously leaned over trying to get an idea of what was going on outside, leaning back and sighing because of me being delayed to wherever I was going. This was not the case today. As soon as I heard the sirens and saw the flashing blue light my mind thought - hang on a minute, this must be news! So, I contacted my news editor James and told him what was going on. At the same time I was running around in the bus, asking students - who couldn't care less - if someone had a video camera, a still camera, anything! No luck there.. Eventually I managed to find out what road the accident took place on, and we were able to send out a Colin and Stu to battle for some facts and pictures. Turned out to be harder than I could imagine due to police press officer, no press pass and so on...

It is weird how things can change. And what is even weirder is the way I felt when I realised something was going on. I mean, it is absolutely terrible, the worst thing basically that can happen to another human being. Still, my adrenaline was buzzing around in my body, my mind were trying to think of what to do next to be able to get information from the situation and how to get any further with the little bits of knowledge of real time, breaking news kind of situations. It was an experience, and I do not know if we will be able to use the material for our bulletin tomorrow at 5pm, but hopefully we can.

It was a strange kind of cool feeling - very hard to explain - to be the one with the information, to actually being the one letting someone else know what's going on that very second and actually feeling like what I did was the right thing. Anyway, very strange day, compared to my usual news/interviews/editing days, but oh so exciting.

News happens, and WINOL is here to report - the buzz of life

Over and out
Buzz buzz

Nightmare coming true..

Read an article on BBC's website on how a man who was thought being in a coma for 23 years was actually conscious all along!!!! Oh my God. Imagine being conscious about everything that happens around you, but not able to notify anyone that you are alive. That you can hear everything that is being said around you. That you are actually 'just' paralysed and not unconscious and in a coma at all. That you live just like everyone else - but you can not tell anyone.

The Belgian man, Rom Houben, was injured in a car crash 23 years ago and ever since family and friends have been told by doctors that he has been in a coma - until the discovery was made that he was not. He says that he 'dreamt the time away' - which I find absolutely amazing - in a very weird kind of way. If something similar would happen to me I don't know how I would be able to survive isolated in my body, trapped with my own voice echoing in my head.. Living dead, that's what it feels like..

Obviously I can't say what I would feel, but the thought alone on this happening is worse than any nightmares dreamt at night...

Oui oui a la france!

A few years back I went with my family to Paris to spend a lovely week there. We did all the touristy things like walking up Champs-Élysées, visiting Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, several cafés, walks along the Seine, one or two many glasses of wine accompanied by baguettes and cheeses.. Aw it was a lovely time and the latest vacation I've had with all my siblings. It's hard to get us all in the same place at the same time, especially with me living in another country, so therefore I endear moments like these a bit extra...

But, our main aim for this trip was not all the beautiful monuments and sightseeings as mentioned above, even though it was an experience I will never forget. No, our main aim was to attack Disneyland Paris and do all the things a group of 14-20 years old can do in the shortest amount of time ever - which happened to be a looooot!

We ran around like lunatics all day, doing everything and even more. Rollercoaster after rollercoaster. Pictures taken with all figures possible (I'm pretty sure I found Winnie the Pooh more interesting that anyone else who's ever been to that park..). Oh happy days! My favorite part of it was The Lion King set up as a musical in one of the massive performing arenas. The music, the actors, the colours..

Everything made me think back on all the Disney movies I've watched through my life and how much each and every one of them have inspired my and made my imagination leap in all kinds of directions. I truly hope that me and my family are able to do something similar to this soon, as moments like these stays with you forever!

Trick or Treat?

I know Halloween was ages ago. But I can't help to feel absolutely horrified when watching the TV and realising that after such a long time, the twins Jedward are still in the Xfactor.. Isn't that show supposed to be all about talent? About ability to sign and perform to entertain the public. On the one hand, yes, they are still there so someone out there must find them worthy a place within the competition - but this is probably more to do with the fact that they keep embarrasing themselves week after week, make people laugh (and cry) but not from a talenty perspective. People keep them in to have something to laugh at. Just like people kept John Sergeant in Strictly Come Dancing last year, I mean, come on, he couldn't dance. Jedwards can't sing. And then Simon Coward - sorry I mean Cowell - had the final vote a week or so ago.. He was able to judge the talents facing each other in the sing off, but instead he turned to the voters, which might be considered fair - but why are there even four judges there in that case? Are they only supposed to sit there and laugh, cry and being sarcastic towards the competitors when they miss out on a note or two?

Meh, entertainment TV couldn't be worse.

And still I'm watching it every week - terrified of what will happen next.

Trick or treat?

Trick it seems..

Sunny memories..

Aaaah! Where's the summer when I need it? I need sun. I need blue skies. I need white fluffy clouds. I need all these elements to inspire me. To feel awake. To feel alive. And, it's raining outside. It's gray. Probably gonna be pitch black in an hour. Yeys. At least in Sweden there used to be snow that lit up the ground and brought something extra to the non stop darkness surrounding us.

This summer I went to Spain with my boyfriend and three of his mates. We spent a week just outside Alicante in a very nice house, had access to two swimming pools and made good use of a car that we rented for the week. We went exploring the nature, which was absolutely beautiful. Made sure we tried all food being served in the area. One night getting lots and lots of different seafood to have our own barbeque party as the sun set over Alcalali.

We also went to a theme park, which was a bit of a disappointment after visiting Disneyland in Paris a couple of years ago. But most of the time we just spent lazying around by the pool, reading books, playing games and just being randomly silly. One of the highlights of the week was us playing water cricket. I was absolutely amazing!

The last days we went to Barcelona to be able to call ourselves cultural once back in England again. Our main aim for this excursion was to visit Nou Camp, since all five of us are massively into football. Even though Spanish league football never have been that interesting for me, I had heard that this arena was supposed to be some extraordinary. And true enough, it was hugely impressive! We spent hours and hours walking around the arena, scouting the museum, turning over price tags in the shop and ending up not buying a single souvenir due to the extreme prices.

We did have a great time. And when I'm waking up on days like these, seeing that the rain is pouring down over Andover, the grey mist devouring the few yellow leaves that still swing in the gloomy emptyness - that's when I open my photo albums and think back on the brighter days when life was much more inspiring. More fun. Interesting. Perfect. Or well, as perfect as it can get :)

Shorthazzlehand

This week has been very intense and stressful, and most things I've done have been concentrated about WINOL, interviewing, reporting, camera skills etc. So when I woke up this morning I decided to have a more relaxing day, but I still wanted to do something productive. So, I took my pen, my blank note book, three million rubbers and sat down.

The adventure started when I opened my well dusty shorthand book. But unfortunately, my so far gained knowledge was not present today.

Aim: to improve my Teeline skills - which is very much needed.

Outcome: a pile of used rubber and a few swear words.

It's not that I can't discipline myself to do it. I quite enjoy it, when I understand what I'm supposed to do and how it all works. But when I can't really puzzle together and master the skills of the language built up on tiny symbols that connects to everything and nothing, I get frustrated. Guess this is the same with everything when it comes to learning. But I want to be able to use it now already. Preferably yesterday.

It always take a little while to pick up from where you ended last time you tried to get through the book. But I do think it's getting easier every time - this might be due to the fact that I've started over from the very beginning three times now.. But hey, I will get there. Sooner or later.

I am sure I will eventually master the language of busy journalists who do not have time to use the language we've once been taught - it's just a matter of time, a very long time...

WINOL - finally live!

Yesterday at 5 pm it happened. WINOL went live.

This week has been great. The more time I get to spend in the news room, the more confident I get and the more I want to do this. I still don't like the camera. I'm alright with video, can kind of manage to record things that are actually quality enough to put on air. But the audio lets me down over and over again. I just can't seem to understand how to get everything to work in harmony. Maybe one day. But that day is not here yet.

Also, this week we had a guest editor, Kay Oliver of GMTV, Sky and ITV, to help us with various issues and guiding us to improve our work to get even better.

Packages were done well in time this week. We decided to shorten the bulletin to 10 minutes though, so there would only be time for three packages in the bulletin. This week we led with Stu's story concerning the proposal on student fees being raised. In addition to this package, we had Martin Tod, lib dem MP, in for a live interview in the studio. Great to have someone else to talk in the studio, makes the entire bulletin feel more alive and buzzing. Homeless in Winchester was the second story which I managed to puzzle together after interviews with Winchester Churches Nightshelter, Emmaus Winchester and Councillor Andrew Palmer. I had a very interesting time meeting up with these people and got a few new contacts to add in my address book, which always is a really nice feeling. 

Veronicas story about parking problems around the University of Winchester went on as third story. A few NIB's (news in brief) were also included, followed by the Sports news. Catherine and Tom made a great job presenting the bulletin. I would love to give it a go at some point, but with a non-English accent I'm not sure I will be able to produce a final product as good as the ones we've produced so far. 

The production team made a good job, but as a reporter it's hard to realise what's actually going on with the other members in your big team, because you're so involved in your own work so you kind of forget what else is going on. But, since we managed to make it - even though the final live bulletin ran a bit late due to technical issues - they must have made a great job.

Overall, this week was far better than the two previous weeks, and it feels as if we're able to engage in a new, more exciting way than we actually were able to do at the start of week 1.

Bring on the weekend!

Bring on week 4!

Heroes - the new future?

Due to sickness and therefore uncountable hours in the sofa, I have managed to get addicted to Heroes - the TV series - in my opinion one of the best series in a long time. What made me want to blog about this is the fact that a couple of weeks ago we were having one of our lecturers on History and Context of Journalism with Chris, and he spoke about DNA and how our population seem to want to move towards a superhuman society were malfunctioned could be replaced to create 'perfect' human beings.

In Heroes, all main character have got their own superpowers, such as flying, healing, mind reading, telekinesis etc, which might not sound anything like today's society (except for the fact that a British guy actually took off as the wind swept him off of his feet and went flying for a split second, see the Sunday Times, 15/11/09). But if being realistic, these powers can't exist in our society, can they?

In all seriousness though, to some extent they do. Today we are able to 'heal' ourselves by replacing dead cells with alive ones, damaged organs with proper working ones, laser treatments to perfect our vision and so on. We are able to replace sperm, that cannot fertilise an egg, to reproduce, where 50 years or even less ago this wouldn't have been an option. Science moves forward, and with this it enables more and more people to tinker and build their own future. But is this really for the better?

With the revelations about UFO's made by Winchester's City Councillor, Adrian Hicks, that they live on our planet, but 'shrouded in secrecy', maybe we can learn from them and move our science knowledge to a new era. Because according to Mr. Hicks, we were able to create things such as fibre optic silicon chips, lasers and nano technology from their crashed vessels throughout the last 50 years...


Whether or not we're moving into a science fiction type of era with perfect DNA strings and powered up super humans, or staying in our present quickly evolving digital fortress era, time is changing and we along with it. I just hope it is towards the better, and not towards the end of the world...

Loving that buzzing adrenaline kick!

Another week. I have absolutely no idea where my precious time disappears to, but it just does.

Second week of WINOL running. And it was miles better than the first week. I mean yes, there are still a million and one things to improve, but at least the buzzing adrenaline team spirit was there and it felt like everyone tried to do their best, to help anyone who might need some extra help and stressing their sweaty foreheads off to get everyone done in time. And we had a complete bulletin in the end.



I managed to complete two packages, one regarding unemployment in Winchester and one about Armistice day at the University of Winchester at 11am, on 11/11. Was definitely a good thing to do the 11/11 package because that meant quite a lot of pressure since this took place on the actual day when the bulletin was to be broadcasted so I had to focus and test my so far half-existing knowledge about all the different elements that come with producing a package. I'm feeling more and more comfortable with the editing, it's not as hard as I first imagined it to be, but my camera skills (sound and light, focus and whitebalance etc etc etc) are yet to be improved by miles. But I'll get there, eventually...



It was another stressful week, but this time I loved it more than I didn't which is a step in the right direction. And, I really do enjoy working with people who are aiming towards the same main aim as you, and want things to get done, working with the same spirit as me to get there.

Tomorrow a new week awaits with new challenges. For example, I was thinking of recording one of my interviews tomorrow at Caffé Nero's in Winchester but after a phone call to confirm what their policy was, I realised that I can't afford spending £250 for an interview (never knew it could be that expensive to film in a cafe!).. Learn something new everyday!

This week I will try to get my homelessness package together, where I have got one interview sorted out already for tomorrow, and another hopefully on its way. I can see it making quite a good package. But I guess I have to wait and get it judged by my news editor before celebrating too much.

Yeah well, research for next week now, and then Sunday lunch and a walk in the weather, since I think I can go out today with the wind sweeping me away halfway around the world.

Come Monday, come new challenges!!
Maddie

Love and Hate - A thin line..

So we're off, WINOL (Winchester News Online) is up and running with our weekly 15 minute bulletin. Before success comes failure, and well... we're not quite at the successful point yet - but we will get there!!

Anyway, this is how it goes:

Monday started off by everyone (read especially me) being totally confused. Yes, I knew I was supposed to bring my three news stories to be viewed and discussed and eventually hopefully chosen to be put in action. But other than that, I didn't really have a clue what the week would offer me and everyone else. It offered a lot. And it started out with me hating it.

The first news meeting went alright. We talked for absolute ages, but we managed to get through with everyone assigned to do something. I was assigned to look into my 'closure of polling stations around the UK' story and managed to get an interview with Steve Brine (conservative) and Martin Tod (lib dem) for Tuesday.

The interviews were taking place in the morning/early afternoon and we discussed Mr. Tod's and Mr. Brine's ideas about the new proposal put forward by the Government and Mr. Straw the other week. I felt as my angle, to put the story through the view of people living and voting in the rural areas of Britain, made an interesting piece. So, I took my (veronica's) camera, and brought her and Mr. Fluffy to Chilbolton where I was able to record my GV's (general views) and also my first PTC (piece to camera). An eventful day where most things went so much better than I could ever have imagined, this because of all the technical equipment I had to fibble around with and use, and because of the dreadful weather that almost killed the equipment before black bin bags were put around the cases, preventing it from drowning.

When I came home on Tuesday night I felt pleased with what I had managed to do so far, and I was very content with myself and my 'technical skills'. But there was still the Wednesday to come, and with editing, I knew that a million and twenty things could go wrong. Been there before.

Once getting started with editing it went quite smooth. But getting started took quite a while because me and Veronika had been very smart (read not very smart) to put both our material for both our stories on the same tape which we had to capture and divide between us. It went well though, I was just about to finish off my piece before the dangerous deadline at 1pm, when my fellow students discovered my story was not contemporary news anymore. Aoch. So we had to withdraw my piece which felt like a disaster. Absolutely heart breaking. I was done. On time. I made the deadline! And yet, it could not make the bulletin. Argh!

We curiously watched and listened to our friends as the bulletin went live! We got through, went live on time. Missed to record it. Someone missed a deadline. Black spots. Wrong links. Sound everywhere. But oh so much fun. It felt as if we were all able to get there. Together. And now we definitely know what not to do in the future.

This first week of WINOL running, dummy edition week, I've learnt so incredibly much. More than throughout the entire last year! I know that I need to learn how to deal with myself when things don't work out as I've planned them to, because as a journalist that's life. I know that I need to work on me being not as nice as I am when talking to people. Need to be more hardcore. Will get there eventually. From being the girl who hates to talk to strangers I think I've come a great long way already and from here it can only get better.

I'm also very pleased that we are working with the third years, since this means we can get inspired by people who already been through what we second years are going through now and get a hand when needed, when it comes to both technical issues and linguistic problems.

I was delighted when the weekend finally arrived and I knew I had managed to get through week one, and with my new won knowledge on being a journalist I felt stronger than ever. Knowing that I can do it. I can do it. And I love it.

Maddie

Next stop - Winchester Bus Station

As a student living in Andover and studying in Winchester I have to commute - since I do not want to live in a student corridor or student apartment somewhere, I rather spend my spare time outside of the wonderful world of University with my boyfriend, family and friends. There are basically three ways for me to get to Winchester.

1) The easiest alternative would be by car, because I could decide when I would like to come and go and not wait around for different services to pick me up at different stations around Hampshire at different times. But, as a student I can not afford the luxury of an own car that needs to fed with petrol, needs to be insured, needs to have a parking space for the cold British nights and all the other lovely details that go with it. I would also need to park around the University somewhere, and as my dear friends have told me, this is a nightmare. So, naah, I don't think that car is an alternative for me.. And oh yeah, by the way, the main issue with a car is that people in this country freaks me out by driving on the wrong side of the road...

2) Then there are trains. This would be a very comfortable choice and convenient as I could use the time I travel to finish off the different tasks we get from University every week. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a fast direct train between Andover and Winchester so if I was to choose this option I would have to go via Basingstoke and wait around for quite some time before eventually arriving in Winchester. There is also the cost for it. Hugely expensive! Prices that I can not see any student able to afford.. Not if you want a decent life outside the train journeys anyway... So naah, no train for Maddie either...

3) I guess that leaves me with the lovely buses. (Notice the irony.) Stagecoach. Prices are alright, quite a few buses that leaves from both places each day - with exceptions from Sundays, when there are no buses whatsoever, and after 6pm when they obviously go to bed. At least it gets me to where I want to go, it picks me up and takes me back home again. But it is definitely not safe. As a Swede I am used to safe transport, whether it is on your own - in your own vehicle - or if it is with the transport society offers you. But here, bus drivers drive as if to break their own personal record for a specific journey. No seat belts are to be found even though a lot of the journeys include motor ways. Terrible seats where you can not rest your head against anything - don't want to think of what might happen if the bus crashes... People standing up, getting thrown around because of the speed and the care for the travellers some of the drivers seem to lack... I am very surprised there are not more accidents reported around the UK...

With this said though, I find it very relaxing to travel by bus - as long as I don't occupy my mind with above mentioned flaws. For the future, I do hope that Stagecoach manage to get some lights in the buses though so that us passengers can read a book or a newspaper even though darkness consumes all the light usually surrounding us...

Cheerios

Maddie

Robert Fisk - Conversations with History

I would strongly recommend everyone who is interested in how a journalist lives, works and survives in a war zone to watch this interview with Robert Fisk. This is a recording from 2006 where Mr. Fisk describes what he has been doing throughout his career and how 30 years as a Middle East correspondent, for the Independent, has shaped and formed him to be who he is today, both as a journalist and as a private person.

As a journalist trainee, I found it very inspiring to listen to Robert Fisk as he is a man with lots of experience and when he talks about his life there is a passionate drive that explains how he has managed to get as far as a journalist as he has. But alongside with the passion there is also an anger that seems to drive him that extra bit further to make his stories something special. Something extraordinary.

So like I said, watch it. Now.

Red-topped Broadsheets - The Future?

Win. Free. Sex.

Newspapers report. Their main purpose are to tell us things that we can not see or hear on our own. They are the link between events out in the world and us being somewhat stuck wherever we are.

Newspapers report. At least the broadsheets. The 'real' newspapers a friend of mine once called them. Then we've got the red tops. The 'newspapers' with a red masthead. The Sun, the Daily Star, the Daily Mirror etc.. More known to deliver entertainment than raw news. But can we actually say that they deliver news - whether it is raw, important news or entertainment - when we do not even know if what they put in their newspaper is true or not. Really, it seems they would do anything to report on an event. Even report on something someone tells them without even checking their sources and confirm them to be true...

Win. Free. Sex.

But why do we read these papers then? If we actually do not know whether the stories are real, fake or spiced up a bit? Chris explained in The One Show that tabloids, and especially the Sun, are like fast food. "It's spicy, it's cheap, it's great fun. But if you only ever ate fast food, you'd have a problem. And if you only ever have read the Sun, you'd also have a problem."

Win. Free. Sex.

Anyone who bought the Sunday Times yesterday? Or at least saw it in the supermarket? To be honest, I was well surprised by the front page. FREE DVD inside and ...SEX... welcomed me to the Sunday edition. I did not just get the Sun, did I? Because these words are what I expect to see when picking up a copy of one of the previously mentioned red tops. But I do not expect to pick up a broadsheet and face a red-topilisation of it.

Win. Free. Sex.

The only word I could not seem to find grazing the cover was the word WIN. A red top seems to be built like that. With these three words to lure readers to pick their 'newspaper' - because who does not like to Win Free Sex?

Win. Free. Sex.

So what is actually happening to the Times? Has this been going on for a while? Have I just come to realise that the Times have used this red topped method for quite some time? Or has it sneaked in there this Sunday only? I'm very eager to follow this up. Can we stop the newspaper society turning red topped - or is it already too late?

To understand war..

For me it's very hard to understand war. And I think I'm not alone to feel this way.

Yes of course there are reasons, or at least so we hear everyday. This is what media, society, well everyone tells us. Reasons like politics, economy, oil, terrorism, fatigue.. the list could probably go on forever. I can kind of grasp this. Conditions that in the long run makes it unbearable for a human being to live their life and this somehow results in a revolt - whether it is a smaller demonstration outside work or a world war between several major nations..

What I do not manage to grasp is how we actually get to the stage where the reasons for war stretches so far that it takes the life of other human beings, just like me and you. I can not understand how a world inhabitated and ruled by ordinary people - because I do believe that everyone is worth the same, whether we are born in Sweden, the UK, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. - can end up in major devastation, similar wiht something I'd expect hell to be..

Maybe I've been protected well from thoughts about war and devastation and human beings suffering around the world. Being born into a neutral nation such as Sweden might limit my ways of understanding why people can't agree and find friendly solutions instead of being forced to bring up their children, their future, in a gun populated country..

I don't know. I guess it's really hard to understand anything that you haven't been through yourself, and even harder when it has such a clearly negative effect on humans such as myself.. So when hearing the other day that it is expected that we will send another 500 troops to Afghanistan, I can't help but think what difference will it actually make?

What do you think? Can we grasp and understand what is actually going on in a war zone, and will 500 troops more or less solve or help solving the massive war that haunts both the Afghan population and all the families and friends to the soldiers being sent over there?

Marge Playboy?

Wow. Can't help but laughing when seeing this on BBC's homepage http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8300463.stm ... First time ever a cartoon character is gracing Playboy's cover. Marge Simpson posing on her playboy chair, seducing the camera in a way that only ... cartoon characters can do? Anyone turned on?

Philosophy- the Individual and the Church

Many great philosophers have managed to make themselves a name thanks to theories or innovations etc, and these are usually the people that we may think of when someone mentions the term 'philosophy'. It is definitely the way my mind works anyway. Ancient Greeks. Italian masterpieces from the Renaissance. Roman emperors. Danish and Polish astronoms. People. Individuals.

What I haven't really thought of before reading the book 'History of Western Philosophy' by Bertrand Russell is the influence philosophy had on the Church, both the Catholic and the Christian. I do know that philosophy has a huge influence on everything, whether we like it or not. It's there and exists around us all the time. It's as normal as breathing or sleeping. Philosophising.

But it's not only philosophical reasons that has formed, and still do influence the Church. Factors such as the political and economical climate, as well as the new multi cultural society we live in have always played a big part. I would say that one of the biggest sources for changes both to the better and the worse is the multi cultural society, a term more relevant to this discussion now than ever before. This thanks to - or maybe because of - the many possibilities the world is offering us today with for example the EU.

Let's look back in time. We don't need to look far. Say 100 years. A time before mass media were developed to the enormous proportions they exist in today. When people didn't have the chance to update themselves on what was going on in the world or in their country. Maybe all they could do was keeping an eye (or ear) on what was going on in their closest surroundings, and maybe, if they were lucky, they could manage to listen to a radio somewhere in the village. The church was usually the place to gather. To meet people. To communicate. To gossip. To feel safe. To have a social life outside your family and your own home. Of course it was also a place to practice your religion.

Today, due to the open doors all around the world, religion has in one way moved on. People still believe, and will probably always keep believing. But today we're familiar with many more different types of religion. We know of Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Hindus.. and the list could go on forever. But from a philosophical perspective, we all believe. Whether we believe in a god, many gods, God, Allah, Vishnu or maybe we believe in nothing at all - we are all still human beings inhabitating this planet called Earth. Whether we decide to go to church on Sundays or stay at home in bed (where we actually can watch church services live from somewhere in the country we are in at the moment!), we are all equally valued in today's society (and thank God for that).

Society and its habitants have developed new ways of living, their traditions have changed and so on. Church doesn't play as big a part today as it did 100 years ago. I'm not to judge whether this is for the better or worse, but I do think religion today is not as powerful as it once was, both for state and individual.

I'm not quite sure what I wanted to say with this blog post.. Society changes, both for individuals and institutions over time - it would be well weird otherwise. It will be very interesting to see where we are in another 100 years time and what kind of role the Church plays then and how the relation between State, Church and Individual will have changed.

Cheerios
Mads

10 of 60 mins commercial break. Sigh.

On Thursday's "How to produce for radio" lecture we were given some preparations to do before the next lecture coming up this Thursday. Among other things we're supposed to listen to a radio station for at least 30 minutes and think of what we hear, what happens, how does the presenter make you feel special enough so that you don't turn him off and leave him alone out there in media space? Also, we were told to preferably listen to a radio station which we normally don't listen to but since I haven't really been listening to radio since I moved to the UK I just decided to pick a random radio channel on my Sky box and go for it..

0107

Absolute

So an hour and a bit ago this the channel I got tuned on to. A commercial station that seems to survive on nothing else than commercial breaks and competitions every frigging second for people to pay a pound to enter with a 1 in a million chance to win a laptop.. Fair enough. After all, this is a commercial station and I do expect commercial breaks when listening to it, I would be sort of silly if not - but I was not expecting one sixth of the broadcasted time I listened to, to be commercial commercial bloody commercial breaks.

I ended up listening an hour because it feels like I would be able to give a fairer picture of the station the longer I would listen to it. So, 60 minutes ended up containing 10 minutes commercial breaks together and 9 minutes of win this fab prize if entering this contest. 19 minutes out of 60. That's a lot!

I have actually never thought about commercial radio like this before. And with this hour session I have realised that I do like the TV licence more than I thought I did an hour ago - because there is no silly commercial breaks. Long live the TV licence!! Hurray!!

Or would media work just as well without it..?

Hmm...
Mads

Thesis+Antithesis=Clashy Synthesis?

Let's start with part three instead. Just throw ourselves into the middle of history, cuddle up with a cup of tea, a penguin classic written by Emile Zola and wroom - here goes History and Context of Journalism - part three.. I guess first parts are over rated? Or just time consuming? ...both?

Anyway, start of part three it is. As class went on, I found myself most interested and inspired by the idealistic philosopher Hegel. His thoughts and ideas were complicated, mainly based on life, society and how the world all evolves around changes. His main idea suggests that there are no objects, all there is is change. Change seems to develop from two opposites (thesis and antithesis) clashing and erupting into something new, some kind of 'togetherness', or as Hegel would say, synthesis. This could easily be described, as Chris pointed out in the lecture, as two football teams, a home team (thesis) and an away team (antithesis). When these two teams meet up it results in a football game - the clash (synthesis). As we can see here, out of two opposites, the final result is change.

To take this theory to a higher level we can instead of the football terms refer to the ancient times and the Greek state (thesis) and the Roman fall (antithesis). When these two nations clashed history resulted in war (synthesis). 

But even after this change, there is according to Hegel additional changes that will build the future. So, with war there will be peace which will lead to victory and so on in all eternally...

When I started reading the Emile Zola book, Germinal a week or so ago, I found this similar way of thinking reflected in the story about the coal mine worker in France. Here we get the opportunity to follow the citizens daily work and life in a very violent and emotion filled society. As poverty and famine like conditions hit the society, the miners decide to strike in hopes to get their employer to once again rise their wages in order to support their families and themselves. But the tactics do not quite go according to plan as mayhem breaks lose and people will have to fight even harder to survive...

So; mining society vs powers ruling above the miners clashing together and gives us strike. It might not be exactly what Hegel gave us with his theory of how everything changes, but traces can definitely be found in how society do change according to people, the interest in surviving and having a worthy life even though there is a higher power ruling them in society. I think this still in some ways occur in our society with strikes, demonstrations and such, and it will probably exist as long as the humankind is alive and ready to defend themselves and their human rights...

To make a long story short; nothing stays the same as everything changes all the time... Like I said, well confusing..

Weyoo

Mads

Greek, Romans, Hellenistic worlds.. pfffffew!

Ancient philosophy after Aristotle.. As exciting as it sounds. I was starting to get my hopes up because the book has actually been quite interesting so far and I’ve definetely opened my eyes and my mind for a different kind of thinking and analysing (philosophical maybe..?). But this chapter killed my interest – totally. It started off alright, describing how the Greek speaking world was divided into three different periods; the free city states (freedom and disorder), the Maledonian domination (subjection and disorder) and finally the Roman Empire (subjection and order). It also gave a brief summary of the Hellenistic age and gave examples of how the Greeks changed during the ages as they came to learn about new cultures and superstitious ideas – with other words, they developed their own theories and religion towards a new modern version.

Even though the book mostly talks about one or two dominant philosophers from a certain point in time, I do think there must have been more ideas out and about that never got as much attention as for example Plato and Aristotle’s ideas did. Maybe even more interesting and developed ideas were circulating in the ancient Greek, ideas that might have changed something else or developed a new perspective on life etc., but maybe due to the extreme publicity that previous mentioned philosophers had during and especially after their lifetime, we lost out on bits that could have changed for example society and the government to the better because someone else was in the lime light at that point. Who knows? Who will ever know..?

With the Roman Empire we can see roles and positions that can still be found in present governments etc, and it definitely shows that both the Greek and the Roman age are to be considered as very important mile stones for Western societies philosophy, politics and development as a whole. I do think that even without these two groups we would have a government in today’s society, somewhat similar to what we have, but not as well developed as it is said to be ( -if we can call today’s government well developed... This is definitely a later question which is very debatable...)

Ah well, got a bit side tracked from the book – but if I wouldn’t have read the book the thoughts and ideas mentioned here would probably not ever occur to me... And since I found the part (no 3, book 1) not very exciting, I’d rather bore you all people with something I do find exciting instead of something I don’t even care about... Anyway... Long story short – there is still much to read in my book – better get going again.

Cheerios

Mads

Here we go again!

Well if I found the first part of the book a tad confusing and over informating, God knows what to call the hundred pages following.. Here, the author discusses Plato, Socrates and Aristotle, their views on life, on human kind, on society and everything else there is to mention about them and their role in the Greek society, and their role in history. The biggest influence on these, and other, Greek philosophers seem to be the influence of Sparta – both through the reality and through the myth. Basically, the sole purpose of Sparta and its citizens was war, and this was all that matters. Due to this fact, society and the way it was built up, did not mean as much to a citizen because all he, or she (!), was trained to do, was fight. Therefore, the constitution of Sparta was much more complex than the more structured forms of constitutions we started to see at this point in Greece. For example, two kings were ruling the country at the same time (who both belonged to two completely different families), alongside with an assembly, a council of elders and a few more bodies, all struggling, trying to share the reigning power. The Spartans seemed to be invincible for a long time, but eventually, 371 B.C. , their supremacy fell.

Plato was Socrates pupil, and these two philosophers turned out to be two of the most influential philosophers in Greek, and Western societies, philosophy. They wanted to find out whether wisdom really exist, if justice can be defined in an appropriate way, how citizens in a society can or cannot control power in a ‘healthy’ way, what, if there is one, the distinction between reality and appearance is.. the questions and thoughts keep trailing through their years alive on this planet, and some of them still keep present philosophers awake at night.

The Greeks turned out to be an important mile stone in the history of Western civilization and in mankind evolving into what it has turned out to be today. But, what would have happened if for example Sparta had managed to take Greece over and maybe destroyed the entire Greek civilization? How would for example a plague or a fatigue affect the ways the Greek society got shaped, and still is shaping the Western society today with governments and constitutions? Would we be somewhere completely different in history and would we have developed an entirely new form of ruling and reigning a country and its citizens, or is democracy, with its con’s and pro’s, the idea of a fair society that we would have ended up with – because it is the most natural way for mankind to develop into?

But, what about today’s society in another two million years time? Will the human being of that time look back at our society and thing ‘God how stupid, why didn’t they realise this and that?’, ‘Why didn’t they see that global warming was just this, and not that?’ and ‘Why on earth bother with this or that, it’s just so completely wrong!’.. We feel, with the Internet and moon landing etc., that we are at the peak of evolution, both political, technical and so on – but are we really? Is that just the same thoughts that Greek society lived in, and societies after. It must have been exactly what they felt like when they ‘discovered’ that the Earth is flat..

Cheerios
Mads

Back in action!

So after what feels like a decade long summer holiday – with still three weeks to go – I felt as if I’ve been lazying around way too much now, and as if the time has finally come to get back in action and do some proper studying. The pile with the philosophy books that are supposed to be read over the summer break have been lying there on my table for quite a while staring at me. Now I’m finally staring back at them, opening them and realising that my choice is wise, this is probably going to take up all my time I’ve still got left before Uni once again kicks off. History of Western Philosophy (Bertrand Russell) and Plato to Nato (Brian Redhead). Not what I would choose to read in my spare time, but quite interesting since I don’t know very much about the history of philosophy at all, and I love to learn new things – that’s what life is all about.. Right?

The book I decide to start with happens to be the heavy brick book about western philosophers from years and years before Christ, leaping through time and eventually ending up with modern times and the present ideas and theories presented by the philosophers active in today’s society. But not to rush things, first thing first. Let’s begin with the rise of the Greek civilisation.

The Greeks are known to have invented mathematics, science, philosophy and they are also getting the credit for being the first to write history . The Greek society was divided into many small independent provinces, and therefore the social systems differed depending on if you were living on the country side or in a city. Kings ruling the country were not absolute and their power were not inhereditary. Democracy included all citizens, except from slaves and women who weren’t considered citizens.

Philosophy is said to have begun with Thales about 585 B.C. He said that everything is made out of water and he also had a great part in evolving the first steps of the geometry we still use in Western societies today. Throughout the years, many ideas were built upon Thales first philosophical ground stones, such as water being one of the four elements that create everything, as well as his ideas getting scrapped by others who couldn’t understand how something liquid and a subject that were always moving could be a corner stone for something bigger.

To think that someone made a discovery that water is probably a part of everything, more than two milleniums ago without the equipment we use in today’s society, is fascinating. Especially when science men and philosophers still agree that water is a part of life and death, heaven and earth and everything in between.

During the early years of Western philosophy Greece was definitely the country were the action took place. Philosphers like Anaximanes (everything is made of air), Pythagoras (mathematics), Heraclitus (everything is made of fire) lived and worked along side less famous philosphers. Their ideas were eventually brought together as Empedocles stated that everything is made of a mix of fire, water, air and earth and due to this nothing ever stays the same, everything flows. For example, you cannot step into the same river twice, because the water will not be the same as new fresh water is always flowing upon you.

I must admit from reading about all these genious men – becuase unfortunately it was only men who were allowed to ‘think’ and act – I get a bit dizzy. So many thoughts and ideas circulating around, how to be able to seperate right from wrong, the truth from the lies and the visible from the invisible and still believe in it.. It is just amazing.. And, realising these guys were actually doing it two thousand years ago.. Wow.. If it wasn’t for them, maybe the earth would still be flat..

Tomorrow a short review of the second part of the first book, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, will be up on the blog accompanied with a few of my own ideas and thoughts. Hopefully you will be here taking part of it as well!

Cheerios
Mads x

Be careful what you wish for...

I’ve always been a big fan of children’s movies. And musicals (because they easily grab my attention and makes the movie a bit more alive and vivid). They make my day when I’m down and sick. And, by spicing it up a bit by adding two of my favourite producers, Tim Burton and Henry Selick, things can’t get any better!

First movie that might strike your mind is hopefully ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’. Or maybe ‘Corpse Bride’. Both these movies are just lovely. Two amazing stories and so beautiful for the eye. All different kinds of ingredients added and you actually forget it’s a children’s movie every now and then.

So for me, musical + kids movies = a very good combination. This is more or less the expectations I had last night when we headed of to the cinema to see ‘Coraline’. Even though Tim Burton is not part of this brilliant movie, it did remind me of both movies mentioned previous (this probably due to the fact that Henry Selick made the screenplay). The lack of musical touch that I was expecting did not matter, because the story was speaking to and grabbing your attention throughout the movie anyway.

Coraline, a sweet girl who feels like she does not get as much attention from her busy parents as she deserves, moves to a big old house where she finds a locked room in the living room. As the door gets unlocked, Coraline finds her way into a world where everything is perfect. She gets welcomed by her ‘other mother’, who cooks her favourite food, gives her sweet presents and plays games with her whenever she wants. But is this world really as good as it seems? And what happens when Coraline realises she has to make a choice, a choice that will change everything she ever cared about?

This movie really speaks to children as well as grownups. I had a great time and so did the rest of the audience seem to have. Me, my boyfriend and our friends laughed and giggled just as much as the children seated behind us (even though our laughs probably aren’t as bubbly and lovely as theirs…).

Overall, a sweet, adorable movie that speaks right to your heart. I’d say the best of the three I’ve mentioned here, 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', 'Corpse Bride' and 'Coraline', and I’m looking forward to be able to own this movie and keep it next to my bed, along with all the other children’s movies.

"You know, you could stay forever, if you want to.
There's only one tiny thing we have to do first..."

8.5/10

Mads
x

Cultural value = a joke?

X-factor? Yes
Britain’s got talent? Yes
Strictly come dancing? Yes
Dancing on ice? Yes

Eurovision Song Contest? No
Pff so much for cultural value…

So, coming from Sweden there is this thing about Eurovision Song Contest. It’s HUGE over there. Build ups for weeks with quarter-finals, semi-finals and then eventually the final so that the Swedish people can decide which song they want to represent their nation in the oh-so-important Grande Finale!

For years and years while living in Sweden I, together with my friends, family and of course all the media, have always, every single year, been looking forward to the middle of May and the big moment when we might do as well as we’ve done four times in the Eurovision Song Contest so far… For years and years I’ve been hosting and going to different types of Eurovision Song Contest parties with near and dear. We’ve been having proper three-course meals, a bit too much to drink and the oh-so-important TV on, showing the programme the entire world (or Sweden anyway) seems to be talking about. And as the show takes us through all the interesting (because that’s what most of them are) we are sitting there, eager with our pens in our hands, scribbling down what points out of 12 we think that specific act deserves… A fantastic evening with a very cultural aura surrounding us.

Then I moved to England…

The other night I was talking to my sister, who was very excited about the weekend. I asked why and she told me it was the EuroSong Contest. I felt like an idiot. I have always been aware of it. For almost two decades I have been excited and full of expectation, watching and cheering, singing and dancing along with it, but this year, I almost forgot about it!!

As I got aware of it, I told my boyfriend that whatever we are doing on Saturday night we have to reschedule because we (that’s what I thought anyway) have forgotten that it is THE night, it is EuroSong Contest! He just shrugged his shoulders and looked at me. Obviously, what I thought was a European cultural thing that everyone in Europe watched with excitement, was nothing else than a little thing that happens in my tiny Sweden bubble. Obviously, no one here seems to care about it all. Obviously, I will have to watch it on my own on Saturday…

What does make me a bit thinky though is that ‘everyone’ in Britain watches X-factor, Britain’s got talent and the dance shows running on TV frequently. But when it comes to a huge event that involves the entire Europe with all its nations, it’s equal to nothing. Pff, so much for cultural value. Sometimes I miss Sweden… Very much!

Mads
x

Life - an authority swarmed path?

It is interesting thinking about all the factors that ‘creates’ us in society. They’ve always been there, in one form or another, and more or less pointed out which main road we should choose in life. I mean, when we get born there’s our parents, and maybe siblings, that already made their mind up about what’s generally right and wrong and from that perspective they decide that this should also be right, or wrong, for us. Maybe the choice of pass this knowledge on to the kid is indirect, but still, the child will get influenced by his or her parents.

Then we start kindergarten, or such, followed by school where there is another ‘older’ human being that teaches us right from wrong. Throughout our early years in life, into our teens we are surrounded by people who are supposed to teach us about life, about the society we were born into and about being a human on planet Earth.

Clearly we need someone to look up to, to gain our knowledge about life – or at least the life they’ve lived – to be able to choose a path for ourselves and make up our own mind and decide what our life is really all about.

When eventually growing up, we’re supposed to work for the state – which has provided us with education, health care and so on – and be a happy, tax paying citizen…

I was reading my course book (chapter 8 Mind Politics in Kingdom J, Government and Politics in Britain) when starting to think how ‘scary’ in one sense life is. However we twist and wherever we turn, there’s always an authority in some kind of power structure, hierarchy, around the corner (whether it’s your mum or dad or your boss at work) who are able to express their opinion freely and make an impact on you. Some kind of power that almost decides to regulate you before you even make your own mind…

Even more so, we’ve got the media who day after day throws ideas, concepts and so on upon us to take in, make up our mind about and finally decide whether or not to include that piece of knowledge/information/crap in our life.

All these different parts of society do build up our life… Whether we want it or not… It’s always there and there’s not really very much we can do about it… Other than be who we are and do our best to follow our own path in life… Whatever that might be…?

Mads
x

A degree in Journalism? Check this out!

Winchester Journalism
MA Winchester Journalism
BA Winchester Journalism
Winchester International Journalism
BJTC
Winchester Studio and Facilities
Lecturers
Veronica Guerin Prize

Interesting bits and pieces about life as a journalism student at Winchester University:)
Cheerios
/Mads

UK goes Oink

Last night it was confirmed. It has now reached the UK. The fearful swine flu.

The Times tells that 152 deaths has been linked to the flu, and in the UK 24 cases are being investigated at the moment - with fear of being carrying the disease.

So is this really anything to worry about? That's always my first thought when a 'big event out of nowhere' appears in the newspapers. Is it something that might develop to something as gruesome as the 'Spanish flu' pandemic in the 1918-19? Any similarities to the H5N1 'Bird flu' that scared people all over the globe some five years ago? Or is it just the world that has gone attention seeking?

I'm afraid I do not have the answer the world's population would like to have. I'm afraid the WHO hasn't either. Nor the media. Absolutely not the media. But until we will know for sure the actual outcome of this frightful pig disease, we will just have to wait and see.

And, yeah, by the way - Now I'll be able to take a football break without my boyfriend going mental cause of his team not doing well enough! Nottingham Forest will still be in the Championship next season, thanks to Reading-Barnsley 2-0 last night. Thanks Reading! You guys saved my summer!

Oink
/Mads

Everything flows..

..therefore we cannot step twice into the same river. When I step into the river for the second time, neither I nor the river are the same.

This is weird. Strange. Quite scary. And true. I guess? According to Heraclitus (540-480B.C.) this is true. According to him, everything flows. Even us.

Philosophy makes me go crazy. Different theories that assume and point out different features in our ordinary daily life that- if you spend time thinking about it- actually make some sense. Sometimes. Before I go crazy from thinking to much.

The same goes with his theory about the world being characterised by opposites. If we never were ill, hungry or in war, we would never know what it is feeling well, being full or appreciating peace. I can much easier apply this theory to my own life. I think everyone can. Especially when it comes to appreciate your own family when you've missed them for quite a while. If I always was surrounded by them I'd never feel as grateful and happy as I do nowadays when I go back to Sweden or have them over here for a week or two.

The same goes with everything we (me anyway) are able feel for and appreciate with time. I think. But like I said, I always go weird and crazy thinking to much, so maybe it's me speaking old Greek now?

Anyway, back to reality now. Monday morning and Uni starting up again. And I guess the same theory goes with this, I've appreciated my Easter holiday so much this year, since had a very busy time leading up to it... Or something.. Oh God.. Better stop before losing my mind..

Cheerios
Mads x

A United Republic/Kingdom of Scandinavia?

Denmark belonging to Sweden. Parts of Norway as well. And Finland. Russia conquering Finland. Denmark attacking Sweden. Norway and Denmark. Forced to be a part of Sweden. Back and forth. Up and down. North to south. But what had happened if the five countries had become a united union?

If this were to have taken place, history would definitely not be where it is today. For example, during the World War II, Sweden, as the most "neutral" country ever, let refugees in from Finland and the Baltic states, at the same time as they let the German Nazi soldiers go by train through Sweden up to the northern parts to be able to attack Finland from there.. So much for neutrality.. So, as a "United Whatever" there would not have been a chance in the world for Sweden to keep this "neutrality" up, and Sweden would probably have been just as "war-involved" as Finland were..

And what would have happened to the EU and the Nordic Countries presence there? Today, Denmark, Finland and Sweden are members, whereas Norway and Iceland have kept away from the Union. What currency would be used? Would the Scandinavian Union vote for or against the Euro? As it is today, only Finland uses the currency and the other four countries have voted no. But as a big union, would it be easier to have a common currency? A currency to be used wherever both inside and outside the union.

As a Swede, I am glad there is no such thing as a Scandinavian Union. But to be fair, if I was to be born into such a Union I would probably be happy with that, because I'd lack information and knowledge of something else than that very Union. I think it would be quite hard as well to keep track on such a Union because it is so big (geographically), and this is probably why previous rulers could not keep the land they once conquered. Might be easier within today's society, thanks to (or because of?) the modern media we use, and the easy way of communication that didn't exist 100s and 100s of years ago?

Anyways, I think that everything happens for some reason, known or unknown, but I am, like I said, happy that my home nation did develop the way it did and become what it is today..

But even though I do love my country and am a bit nationalistic every now and then, I do admit that it isn't problem free, far from.. But I reckon that's reality and as far as I know, and believe, there is know such place that is problem free.. Why would there? I guess part of life is that it isn't easy.. It's a shame though that it has to be so much harder for some than others..

Well well, I do not know whether or not this make any sense to you but it's just random thoughts..

Back to studying..
//Mads

The Monarchy - An Ancient Symbol?

It's a quite interesting subject. Constitutional monarchy. When the Queen or King may be said to reign, but not to rule. Then why even bother with a monarch? To me it doesn't really make sense. It's such an expense. The monarch does not vote, because he or she is supposed to be natural. I mean, sure if the monarch had anything to actually do with society other than just be a popular symbol combined with big ceremonies.. I don't say it is wrong to keep old traditions, but why when they don't fill a function? Wouldn't it be better to focus on todays society as it is? And since we are said to be living in such a 'fair' and 'equal' society today, how come monarchy is something you are born to be? If that is so, that certain persons are born to be certain famous figures for an entire nation, then why doesn't the same rule apply to Prime Ministers?

The UK isn't alone. Along with the Britain there is Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Norway that are practising constitutional monarchy.

Humankind has developed so incredibly much the last century, and the entire society with it. Isn't it finally time for the monarchy to change with the society as well?