Fifty-Six Hours Technology Free

by Emma B

After three weeks in my new role – communications and social media – in the marketing department at the real estate company at which I work, my head was spinning.

I couldn’t write enough lists quickly enough and I was even considering setting up an Excel spreadsheet to organize my lists alone. Every moment still I was thinking of ideas and questions I wanted to research and one blog post led to another. Then there was the challenge of spotting quality content amongst all the posts out there. I would get to the bottom of a post entitled 8 Creative Uses for Twitter You've Never Tried and be mildly entertained but none the wiser. Did I miss something?

I read an article in the Good Weekend section in the Age about the information overload happening around us and how we can’t seem to let a single thought pas by without jumping on to Google. A restaurant might come up in conversation and seconds later we are looking at their menu, getting directions from Google Maps to work out how long it would take us to drive there and struggling our way through the reviews trying to work out whether the reviewer is normal or not and whether we might think like them. 

Brainache! 

Feeling so strung out and preparing for a two-day hike at the weekend, I decided to leave my mobile phone at home for my trip. I scheduled all my Tweets and Facebook posts up until Monday lunchtime and figured as it was the Grand Final weekend most of Melbourne might have things other than real estate on their minds, and left my phone at home. From Friday midday to Sunday night I would have no access to my phone. Whoop! 

The relief was instant. I looked out the window the entire journey down to Foster letting my thought process calm down and when the sun set my mind slowed even further. I can only liken the feeling to that of slowing your heart rate down after extreme exercise. I felt elated! 

After 23 kilometres of fresh air whilst walking to the lighthouse at Wilsons Prom, getting battered by rain, hail and gale force gusts of wind, that night I slept so soundly after a night of conversation and eye contact, interspersed by periods of reading books! Yes, books! 

The next morning I felt so inspired I wrote a little poem entitled Brainache, which served as my final catharsis, preparing me for a 28 kilometre (yes, we added in a detour on the way back!) walk back to the start point (the walk itself I will talk about in another post – it deserves one of its own). I would never have had the willpower to have ignored technology for a full 56 hour period at home in Melbourne. 

Today I read an article pushing a product that will charge your phone using a thermoelectric process, so you can take it camping. Soon there will be no escape. Safety-wise, I was hiking with four others, all of whom had their phones so I guess if you are using your mobile for GPS or planning to do so in an emergency this FlameStower might come in handy.

I recommend grabbing the opportunity to separate from your phone when it comes your way. I returned to work rejuvenated, clear headed, ready to get stuck in, like a hamster on a tech-wheel!

Lord Lamington's Anglo-Aussie Sponge

by Emma B

On the train the other day, I overheard two Australian women having a conversation about baking. Two complete strangers had met on the train and had a chat the whole way from Frankston to Flinders Street Station.

I love Australia for many reasons, this openness being one of them.

I have to admit I tuned in and listened, in and out, and their conversation meandered from discovering they were both passionate bakers to discussing baking secrets.

‘The secret with a Lamington is to freeze it. Then you can cut it into squares without the sponge falling apart.' 

There's an idea! As I had a triple birthday coming up, I mulled over this thought and decided to bake a Lamington.

Lord Lamington Source: QUT, Brisbane

Lord Lamington was English, would you ever have guessed it, and became Governer of Queensland 1896.

Stories about the invention of the coconut covered cake vary, but in most versions Lord Lamington's chef created the cake either by accident, dropping a sponge cake in a bowl of chocolate or, invented it on the run, when confronted with unexpected guest. The Lamington was his rabbit out of a hat.

Lord Lamington himself, however, never became a fan and reportedly called them ‘those bloody, poofy, woolly biscuits’.

For my Lamington, I used Donna Hay's sponge recipe and poured the batter into a greased and lined rectangular 30x19cm Lamington tin and baked it in the oven at 180 for 30 minutes.

I cut the sponge in two, spread strawberry jam in a thin layer across one half and placed the other half on top.

I wrapped the cake in glad wrap and popped it in the freezer overnight (a couple of hours would be enough if you are in a rush).

When you are ready remove the cake from the freezer and unwrap.

Cut the cake carefully into even cubes and set aside while you make the icing.

Icing

3 cups icing sugar 

¾ cup cocoa powder 

⅓ cup boiling water 

75g butter, melted 

desiccated coconut to coat

Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix with the boiling water and melted butter. 

Set up your cut sponge cakes, bowl of icing, bowl of coconut and cooling rack in a row (production line style). Using forks, to minimise the amount of finger licking required, coat the sponge squares in icing on each side then hold aloft to drain off the excess.

Drop the chocolate covered cake square into the bowl of coconut and again using forks turn to coat each side.

Enjoy with a steaming cup of Australian Afternoon Tea for a true Aussie experience!

Laughs, Stories and Dreams - How Some Friendships Never Fade

by Emma B

A girlfriend of mine works for Emirates as cabin crew. Every now and again she lands in Melbourne and stays for a few hours before her next flight. 

It’s always hit or miss as to whether we manage to meet up; Emirates are always keeping her on her toes with changing work schedules.

Anyway, this Sunday I was all ready to head into the City to meet her, when she messaged me to say her schedule had been switched around and she couldn’t make it. 

I started thinking about old friends and what it is about them that makes us stay close, even though so much time passes between each meeting.

Collette and I worked together ten years ago.  When you work together you really get to know someone. We worked in a small pavement fronted real estate office with only three other people. It was something of a window on the world. The dynamics of our team back then still make us laugh.

Ah the stories. Working in real estate provided us with so many anecdotes and stories, which come flooding back every time we meet. For example the time when a seller called up saying that she thought one of our colleagues (bit of dodgy character) had been watching TV and smoking in her lounge room. (What?) Of course he denied all knowledge but he was marched out the door later that afternoon. He’d not been with us even a week.

Relationships. Collette and I were both in doomed relationships back then, although of course we didn't know it at the time. We were struggling to see our situations from outside and both feeling torn between the time so far invested and the time stretching ahead of us. 

The last ten years have been rich with experiences for both of us and we both know now we made the right decision to end our respective relationships. The small amount of heartbreak at the time was worth it.

We both followed our dreams to travel. Collette has travelled in more countries than I could reel off in one sitting and floods my Facebook feed with gorgeous photos of her radiant self on her travels. I always tell her she should do a photography course for fun. I’m sure she would love it.

Collette is forever a source of inspiration to me to always follow your heart.

Timeless inspiration- Vintage Labels and Prints of Pinterest

By Olivia. C

A few months ago I added another social media account to my name, that being no other than Pinterest. After looking at some Pinterest boards in class, I was intrigued by the sheer volume of content that is being uploaded, shared (or “repinned”) by like-minded people from around the world. But what appealed to me the most were the vintage labels and prints from years since past. These are arguably the most repinned images in Pinterest, with their colourful and quirky product ads, labels and posters instilling nostalgia in both the young and seasoned viewer.  

I first became interested in vintage posters and advertising when I was in my final years of High School. I guessed it stemmed from watching far too much Mad Men in my spare time.

 If Don Draper and the creative team at Sterling Cooper have taught me anything, it’s that an ad has to have meaning. It has to evoke an emotional reaction within the viewer, asides from the desire to buy the product. It can instil a sense of intrigue or nostalgia, longing or wonder. And it has to be done through catchy headlines or quirky imagery. No Photoshop required.  

If you compare some of the vintage ads from the ‘60s to today, the imaginative process that is behind some of the ads we see on billboards and on TV is seriously lacking. How many of you can honestly say that you were taken away by, for instance, Coles’ latest advertising campaign?

The vintage prints and labels on Pinterest remind me of a time when a great deal of creativity and thought were invested in advertising and marketing. It reminds me of a time when people dared to be bold and created quirky, and sometimes risqué, ads and artwork that stimulated the imagination. These prints and labels just go to show that not all advertising campaigns have to be boring; they can be artistic as well as inspiring.

The Landmark Forum - Life Changer or Cult? (Part 2 of 2)

by Maggie Sakko

So, back to the Landmark Forum. What did I think?

Landmark began in America in the 1970s, and has evolved somewhat over the years. To a cynical Australian like me, some of it made me cringe: the concept of ‘group therapy’, the odd language, and the sometimes evangelical way the information was delivered.

Landmark does not advertise, so all their business comes through word of mouth. We were encouraged in incredibly strong terms, many times, to get all our friends and family, colleagues and strangers off the street on board as well.

I think that there is a genuine altruistic wish to have as many people as possible experience the difference Landmark can make to their lives, however let’s not forget they are running a business as well.

There was an extra evening 2 days after the Forum ended where we were asked to invite friends and family to share what we had got out of the Forum. This was a thinly veiled recruitment drive. The room was crawling with smiling volunteers all ready to pounce on your loved ones and pull them in too.

It was pushed far too strongly for my taste, and was a real turn-off.

We were also urged to ring people up during our breaks in the Forum, to share the breakthroughs we were having, or to mend broken relationships using our newly acquired tools. They even wanted us to ring people when we’d arrived home at night, which in my case was 11.15pm!

For me, the risk of giving my mother a heart attack over a phonecall at that hour (since when are they anything but horrible news?) was not outweighed by my need to share the revelation I’d just had.

A different kind of landmark...

For all that, it was genuinely the most amazing thing I have ever done.

I wouldn’t have believed that I could sit still for that long, listening to just one person speak. But the hours flew. Our forum leader Paul was incredible - funny and very engaging. Apparently the leaders have between 3 and 7 years of training before they are let loose on a roomful of people on their own. 

Once he was coaching someone up the front of the room, he was completely focused on them and their story and helping them to ‘get’ what he was trying to teach them. For one woman this took nearly 2 hours! After he’d finished talking with them, people actually looked different. Younger, or lighter, or something.

At the end of the 3 days, I was wearing ‘the Landmark grin’. I felt wonderful. I should have been exhausted, but I was exhilarated. This feeling has dissipated somewhat over the past few weeks, but amazingly the effects of the Forum haven’t.

Here’s what has happened:

I have stopped shouting at my kids. Pretty much.

I am more forthright and decisive.

I listen really carefully to what other people say.

I am better at seeing others’ points of view.

And I am not scared of making bad decisions.

Not bad for 3 days work.

So yes, there are definite drawbacks - in particular the heavy handedness of the recruitment process. But, despite that, I am happy enough with the results so that my son is going to do it next year – they have a special Landmark Forum for kids – and my husband wants to do it too.

I guess that says enough.

For more reviews of the Forum, check here.

The Landmark Forum - Life Changer or Cult? (Part 1 of 2)

by Maggie Sakko

A couple of months ago, I participated in The Landmark Forum. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a 3 day seminar, part self-development, part psychology, part life coaching… actually it’s very hard to describe. Here’s what their website says:

The Landmark Forum, our flagship program, is designed to bring about positive, permanent shifts in the quality of your life – in just three days. You’ll experience a new and unique kind of freedom, effectiveness, and power – the freedom to be at ease in any circumstances, a new effectiveness in areas that really matter to you, and the power to make what you’re committed to into a reality. In those areas of life that are most important to you – the quality of your relationships, your personal productivity, the difference you’re out to make, the degree to which you enjoy your life, and more – you’ll experience benefits both practical and profound that continue to expand and unfold over time.

Wow. That’s quite a promise. 

What happens is that you sit with about 100 others in a big, bland, conference room in South Melbourne, on a quite comfy but standard plastic chair. And you stay there from 9am to 10pm each day for 3 solid days, apart from two ½ hour breaks and one 1½ hour break per day. Yep, seriously.

The rules are strict. No eating during the Forum. No taking notes. Be back on time from breaks. The reason for this is that in order to get the full benefit of the Forum you are supposed to be totally immersed in what is happening up the front of the room, with no distractions.

Over the three days there is just one speaker, the Landmark Forum leader. This incredible person has seemingly limitless energy, focus and patience, and they are there to get you to understand a number of ‘distinctions’. This is Landmark-speak for ‘concepts’. Yes, Landmark has its own, strange language, for reasons I still haven’t quite fathomed.

A distinction will be explained, then the leader will invite participants to come up to one of the microphones set up at the front of the room and ‘share’, or describe an area of their lives that isn’t working for them, or they would like to improve. The leader then coaches them, in front of the group, to help them see how applying the distinction would improve things for them.

And that’s pretty much it, on repeat. About 15 distinctions, covered over 3 days.  Here’s the syllabus, if you’re interested.

Participants come from all walks of life. The youngest was 18, and the oldest in her 70s. Lots of businesses send their employees, and there are lost looking folks too, looking for answers.

It can be harrowing listening to someone stand bravely up the front of that room and, sometimes, relate some pretty awful things that have happened to them. While it all turns out well in the end, once they ‘get’ the distinction, it doesn’t make listening to them easy. There were a lot of tears shed, both by the people up the front and those of us listening.

The registration paperwork you need to fill in prior to attending actually specifies that if your emotional or mental health is not good, you are strongly advised not to participate in the Forum.

I can see why.

To find out what my verdict was on the whole thing, check back soon for Part 2…

Japan's 猫島 - Cat Islands!

By Emily G.

Believe it or not, there are not one but two islands off the coast of mainland Japan that have rightfully earned the nickname "nekoshima" - or "Cat Island" in English.

The most well known of the two is Tashirojima (田代島), a small island off the Oshika Peninsula. The feline population on the island is far larger than the human population (of which 83% are elderly), and dogs are prohibited.

The second Cat Island is called Aoshima, located in the Ehime prefecture. Only sixteen humans inhabit Aoshima, meaning that, again, cats outnumber humans here.

Aoshima locals enjoying their beauty sleep.

The stray cat populations thrive in these places due to a belief amongst both locals and visitors that feeding and nurturing cats will bring wealth, luck, and good fortune. The resident cats are friendly and love the attention! Tourists visit the islands just to see the cats, and the internet is understandably just as excited. Twitter user @kolmetoista's photos of the cats (see above!) have been appearing on a multitude of popular Japanese blogs, and one photo has been retweeted over seventeen thousand times.

What do you think? Would you jump at the chance to visit the celebrity kitties? Are you just not a cat person, or perhaps allergic?

Personally, I have added a visit to either of these 猫島 to my "must do" list when I take a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.

- Emily Greenwood